‘No decision yet on controversial Polish wheat shipment’

AMMAN — The controversial Polish wheat shipment is still in authorities’ custody with no decision taken yet on whether to re-export the consignment or restrict its content to non-human usage, an official said on Wednesday.

Previously, authorities asked the importer of the Polish wheat shipment to re-export the consignment, which violates local technical standards.

The decision was based on the results of the Jordan Food and Drug Administration’s (JFDA) tests on samples of the shipment that were found to violate technical standards of colour.

“Re-exporting the shipment is not that easy a job,” Trade Ministry Spokesperson Yanal Barmawi said, adding that the Jordan Silos and Supply General Company does not have the necessary technical and administrative competence to perform such a “sophisticated process”.

Barmawi told The Jordan Times that the ministry has informed the importing company that the shipment did not meet national standards.  

“No final decision has been taken yet on the fate of the shipment,” Barmawi affirmed.

The wheat shipment — carried on the “MV Thessaloniki” — has generated controversy over the past weeks as the JFDA insists that it does not meet standards, while the importers requested re-testing to prove it is in line with local standards.

The importing company, Smart Solutions, previously requested re-conducting the tests, objecting to the JFDA’s testing procedures that “violated legal sampling and testing measures”. But the administration refused.

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, JFDA Director General Hayel Obeidat said technical standards require that samples be free of colour, while the sample from the shipment included grains with mixed colours.

The 52,000-tonne shipment, a quantity that covers the Kingdom’s needs of wheat for 20 days, is valued at JD15 million.