(Reuters) — Japan and South Korea continue to test the U.S. wheat they buy to make sure it is not contaminated with an experimental version developed by Monsanto, says U.S. Wheat Associates.
However, it said the countries could soon stop the practice.
The two countries, which are among the top buyers of U.S. wheat, have been sampling and testing all the U.S. wheat they have bought since last year, when news broke that a farmer in Oregon had found Monsanto’s unapproved genetically modified wheat growing in his field, according to U.S. Wheat Associates, which markets American wheat to international buyers.
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All of their test results on more than five million tonnes of wheat have been negative, it said.
The testing requirements are a competitive disadvantage for U.S. wheat, said president Alan Tracy, but both countries now should be able to stop the testing after recent assurances from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the Oregon event was isolated and no GM wheat had made its way into commercial supplies.
“We’re hopeful that they’ll be able to suspend the testing. It is not something they really want to keep doing indefinitely,” Tracy said.
“They approach things cautiously. They felt they had no choice until this report (from USDA) was out.”
U.S. Wheat Associates will meet representatives from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea later this month, he said.
According to U.S. export sales data, Japan bought three million tonnes of U.S. wheat in the 2013-14 marketing year, which ended May 31, making it the fourth-largest buyer of U.S. wheat for that period after Brazil, China and Mexico. Japan has bought 1.4 million tonnes so far this year.
The sampling and testing is done in the United States before the wheat is shipped, Tracy said.
South Korea bought 1.3 million tonnes during the last marketing year, making it the seventh largest buyer. It has bought 749,000 tonnes this year.
There is no commercially approved GM wheat, but Monsanto’s herbicide-tolerant Roundup Ready wheat was near commercialization a decade ago before the company shelved the project amid fears that export sales would be hurt.
The fact that experimental wheat was found growing uncontrolled in Oregon last year led to fears the GM wheat might be in commercial supplies. The unapproved wheat was also found this summer in Montana, growing in a research plot where field trials of the GM wheat were conducted from 2000-03.
The USDA said it was investigating the Montana situation, but like Oregon, there are no indications the unapproved wheat entered commercial supplies.
Tracy said Asian markets remain very cautious about GM grain.
“It’s not up to us to tell them what to do,” he added.
