Reuters reports:
Japan and South Korea have both taken steps to block certain imports of U.S. wheat after unapproved GMO wheat was found growing in Washington state, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday.
Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said it will suspend purchases of all Western White wheat from the United States for food use, and all purchases of Western White wheat from the U.S. West Coast, but not from the Gulf, for feed use until it can start testing incoming shipments, according to the USDA.
Japan has also suspended distribution of all previously purchased U.S. wheat until testing is established. It is the first time Japan has blocked U.S. wheat imports since mid-2013, when a different strain of GMO wheat — also developed by Creve Coeur-based Monsanto, but never commercially released — was found on a farm in Oregon.
South Korea has suspended clearance of U.S. wheat for food use, the USDA said. South Korea, the fifth largest market for U.S. wheat, had already said it would step up quarantine measures for U.S. milling and feed wheat shipments.
Japan expects to lift its new restriction once it has a system in place to test grain for the new GMO trait seen in the Washington state wheat plants, the USDA said.
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Source: Reuters
