Dive Summary:
- Japan canceled a tender offer to buy U.S. grain following the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wednesday announcement that a strain of genetically modified wheat never approved for sale or consumption was discovered on an Oregon farm.
- Few Asian countries allow the import of such genetically modified cereals for human consumption, and top wheat importers like South Korea, China and the Philippines are now said to be closely monitoring the situation following the revelation.
- The strain of wheat in question was developed years ago by Monsanto Co. but never approved due to global opposition against GMO wheat.
- Asia accounts for roughly a third of the global wheat trade with 40 million tons of wheat imported annually.
From the article:
... "We will refrain from buying western white and feed wheat effective today," Toru Hisadome, a Japanese farm ministry official in charge of wheat trading, told Reuters. ...