China has approved the safety of gene-edited wheat for the first time as Beijing cautiously moves forward with commercial growing of genetically modified food crops.
MarketsFarm — Argentina has become the first country in the world to approve cultivation and consumption of a genetically modified wheat variety, the country’s National Commission for Science and Technology (CONICET) announced Thursday. “This is the first approval in the world for drought-tolerant genetic transformation in wheat,” CONICET said in a statement. Argentina is the […] Read more
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed the discovery of unapproved, genetically modified (GM) wheat plants growing in an un-planted agricultural field in Washington state. There was no evidence the wheat had entered the food supply, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement on Friday. The wheat […] Read more
Tokyo | Reuters — Japan’s agriculture ministry said Friday it had resumed purchases of Canadian wheat after testing showed no imports that reached the country included grain containing a genetically modified trait discovered in Alberta last summer. Japan’s agriculture ministry said it was seeking to buy 62,957 tonnes of food-quality Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS, […] Read more
Seoul | Reuters — South Korea’s food ministry on Tuesday said it had lifted a temporary suspension on sales of Canadian wheat as it had not discovered any unapproved genetically modified strains during tests on imports. South Korea suspended sales of Canadian wheat last week after Canada announced the discovery in mid-2017 of an unapproved […] Read more
Wheat sales are expected to soon resume to Japan and South Korea. Both nations suspended Canadian wheat imports following the June 15 announcement that Canada had discovered several genetically modified (GM) wheat plants in southern Alberta. But both are expected to come back to the market shortly, while exports to others won’t be affected, according […] Read more
Seoul | Reuters — South Korea has suspended the sale of wheat and flour from Canada after Canadian officials announced last week the discovery in mid-2017 of an unapproved genetically modified trait in southern Alberta. “We will only allow sale of wheat products that are confirmed not to contain unapproved genetically modified wheat,” South Korea’s […] Read more
UPDATED, June 14, 2018, 6:55 p.m. — Genetically modified (GM) wheat — which hasn’t been approved for commercial production in Canada — has been discovered in southern Alberta, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed. The wheat of unknown origin contains a genetic modification making it resistant to a common herbicide, CFIA told reporters Thursday. […] Read more