Egypt takes Indian wheat consignment Turkey rejected

Egypt takes the Indian wheat consignment Turkey rejected for “Rubella virus” basically proving nothing was wrong with the wheat.

Egypt, one of the largest wheat importers, is racing to secure new supplies of wheat from other countries, including India amid the soaring costs of wheat in the world’s shortage of wheat amid the Russian-Ukrainian War.

The 56,000-tonne consignment to Turkey was cleared before India announced the wheat export ban on 13 May.  Strangely, the wheat on reaching Turkey was rejected on claims of phytosanitary concerns and sources said “Rubella virus.

Piyush Goyal, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said, “A country has rejected Indian wheat and we have started investigating the matter. But preliminary investigation suggests that the export belonged to ITC, which is known for its quality standards. ITC has sold the shipment to the Netherlands and the letter of credit (LC) also came from the Netherlands. Even ITC was not aware the shipment was due to be sent to Turkey.”

India is investigating the cause of rejection.  A government official said the reason behind Turkey rejecting India wheat could be political as India’s relationship with Turkey has deteriorated because of its support for Pakistan.

“There is a massive shortage of wheat globally, and we are getting queries regularly. Good if they don’t want Indian wheat, we have many more who understand the value of wheat at the moment,” he said.

However, a trade expert who spoke on the request of anonymity said he is reticent to believe that Turkey’s rejection was based on political reasons as Indian farm exports get regular warnings from several countries.

The wheat consignment that Turkey rejected has been diverted to Egypt, which is facing bread shortages after supplies from Russia and Ukraine dried up in the wake of the war, people aware of the development said.

On Friday, Mint reported that Turkey apparently rejected the shipment after it was found to have the ‘Rubella’ virus, which, according to experts, develops owing to soil or seed contamination.

The fact that Egypt took the wheat that Turkey rejected basically proves there was nothing wrong with the wheat.  Also, the wheat export belonged to ITC, which is known for its quality standards. ITC has sold the shipment to the Netherlands and the letter of credit (LC) also came from the Netherland.  Thus, was  Turkey playing or was it political vendetta for something? The question still has to be answered because other nations found nothing wrong with the wheat.