Egyptian suppliers have been given one year to learn and implement standards to bring their products up to UK levels by a leading wholesaler.
According to experts at the Agricultural Technology Center, Makro is working with suppliers of fresh and processed foods in the country to achieve the Global Food Safety standard.
Suppliers began working on the Core 1 stage of the standard last month and will be selected by the retailer for long-term partnerships in November 2010.
The standard looks at the full range of elements in food safety, including hygiene in production and packing and post-harvest transportation.
Quality officer Amin El Masry told FPJ: “The relationship between Egypt and the UK is a strong one and with developments like these, it can become even stronger. The UK is the destination for around 40 per cent of our fresh exports.
“We want the local people in an area to be given the knowledge resources, rather than services be paid from elsewhere to implement the infrastructure. The key is to develop our existing human resources.”
