CAIRO, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Egypt is considering rejecting 59,000 tonnes of French wheat purchased by state grain buyer GASC due to the presence of poppy seeds, Egypt's agricultural ministry said on Sunday.
Egypt's agricultural ministry said on Sunday its quarantine authority was examining seeds in the French cargo.
"If they prove to be poppy seeds a decision will be taken to reject the shipment and transfer the case to the general prosecutor," spokesman Hamid Abdel Dayim said.
A 63,000 tonne Romanian wheat cargo is currently being considered for final rejection and re-export at the office of the general prosecutor after the quarantine authority found it contained poppy seeds.
Cairo-based traders said poppy seeds were becoming "the new ergot."
Egypt spends billions of pounds each year on wheat and bread subsidies to secure food for tens of millions of its poorest.
