Jordan denies importing contaminated wheat from Germany

Jordan has denied to have imported wheat from Germany in the year 2000 containing remains of pesticides, stressing that since 1997 until the present time it had not imported any wheat from Germany.

The secretary of the Jordanian ministry of trade and industry Samer al-Taweel said that the information which talked about Jordan's importation of a contaminated shipment of wheat is groundless and aims at violating the Jordanian citizen faith in the safety of food. He stressed that Jordan pursues a tough policy concerning conditions and standards for the imported wheat.

For his part, the secretary of the Jordanian ministry of agriculture Asaad Abu al-Ragheb said that Jordan only imports wheat from the US, Canada, France and Argentina and at less quantities from Australia and Turkey and that the ministry of agriculture tests every shipment of wheat for contamination before it is permitted to enter Jordan.

Abu al-Ragheb indicated that the Jordanian governmental sides are now making sure of the certificates of origin related to wheat shipment and that the government will investigate details pertinent to this issue.

Meantime, the Jordanian society for consumer protection called on the government to unmask the implications of the shipment and to bring those responsible for its importation before the court very soon if contamination is proven to exist.

However, western media sources quoted officials in Berlin as saying that a pesticides contaminated wheat shipment was sold to Tunisia and Jordan from Germany.