South Korea is importing Canadian wheat again eight days after suspending purchases following the announcement that a handful of unauthorized genetically modified plants were found in Alberta.
Rigorous testing showed there was no evidence of genetically modified wheat in commercial shipments, the Alberta Wheat Commission said in a Tuesday [June 26] news release.
“This resolution is a critical step forward in providing assurance to Canadian wheat customers that Canada does not produce or ship genetically modified wheat,” commission chairman Kevin Bender said.
Canada sold $56 million worth of wheat to South Korea in 2017, or less than one per cent of the country’s total $6.6-billion wheat exports.
A contractor spraying for weeds along an access road in southern Alberta last summer informed local authorities that a few plants weren’t killed by Roundup herbicide, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency revealed earlier this month.
Tests found the plants were genetically modified to tolerate the weed killer, but didn’t make their way into the food supply and were isolated to the ditch where they were found.
Read full, original article: South Korea resumes Canadian wheat imports
