Egypt settles wheat fungus dispute

Abu Dhabi

EGYPT'S agricultural quarantine authority settled a months-long dispute on Monday over wheat import specifications that have hampered the country's massive state purchasing programme ahead of an anticipated new buying season.

Egyptian quarantine authorities' earlier refusal to let in wheat infected with even the slightest amount of ergot, a fungus that can lead to hallucinations and irrational behaviour in large quantities, but at trace levels is deemed harmless to humans, wreaked havoc in the market for supplying the world's largest wheat buyer.