Japan Suspends Import of US Genetically Modified Wheat

Japan has suspended imports of some US wheat after genetically engineered crops were found on an Oregon farm, a government official said Friday.

Tokyo’s move came as the European Union told its member states to test imports from the area, saying any genetically modified wheat would not be sold to consumers.

Japan’s farm ministry on Thursday cancelled a bid for 25,000 tonnes of Western White, a soft white wheat produced in the Pacific northwest, a ministry official said, in the wake of the discovery of the modified wheat.

Japan imports around five million tonnes of wheat a year, 60 percent of which is from the US, making it one of the largest importers of the crop.

It does not allow GM wheat. Imports make up 90 percent of the wheat the country consumes.

The US Agriculture Department announced the discovery of the modified wheat on Wednesday. No genetically engineered wheat has been approved in the United States for commercial production.

The US department also said it was the same breed as a genetically modified herbicide-resistant wheat tested by seed giant Monsanto between 1998 and 2005, but never approved.

In Brussels, the European Commission said Thursday it has asked EU member states to check imports of wheat from the United States which may be tainted with the genetically modified strain.

The Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, said it had informed the 27 member states of the problem, “recommending (they) test the consignment of soft white wheat” in question.

Soft white wheat accounts for about 80 percent of US wheat imported annually by the EU, with most of it going to Spain.