After long negotiations between the two sides, the nation of Japan has allowed the Egyptian government to export citrus fruits. Officials and experts believe this will contribute to increasing Egyptian exports, increasing the flow of foreign currency into the country, creating job opportunities and increasing farmers’ income. On November 2nd, the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture announced that Japan has agreed to import citrus fruits, including oranges. The announcement comes after lengthy negotiations between the two sides that extended over several years. Egyptian Minister of Agriculture Al-Sayed Al-Qusayr said in a press statement on the same day that the Central Administration of Plant Quarantine affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture intensified in 2019 its negotiations with the Japanese side, adding that an action plan has been agreed upon for the export process to start once the necessary legislative and executive measures in Japan are completed. The negotiations ended with the Japanese side’s approval to open the Japanese market to a variety of citrus fruits from Egypt.
Ahmed el-Attar, head of the Central Administration of Plant Quarantine, told Al-Monitor: “After nearly 11 years of negotiations, this is the first time that Japan agrees to import citrus fruits from Egypt. We stepped up negotiations last year after an Egyptian delegation — which I headed — arranged for a technical visit to Japan. We discussed [during the visit] the export requirements, and the course of negotiations was accelerated and ended with their [Japanese] agreement to receive citrus fruits from Egypt.”