Japan Lifts GM-Linked Ban on U.S. Wheat Imports

Japan resumed imports of some U.S. wheat Thursday, ending a two-month suspension that came after genetically engineered crops were found on an Oregon farm.

The agriculture ministry purchased 89,579 tons of Western White on Thursday, an official with the ministry's trade division said.

The suspension on some imports of U.S. wheat was imposed in late May as Japan canceled a bid for 25,000 tons of Western White, a soft white wheat produced in the Pacific Northwest.

Japan imports about 800,000 tonnes of that wheat brand a year, but does not allow genetically-modified wheat.

In all, Japan imports around five million tons of wheat a year, 60 percent of which is from the United States, making it one of the largest importers of the crop.

Farm Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said earlier that ban would be lifted on condition that all incoming US wheat be tested.

The Japanese suspension came as South Korea also followed suit, while the European Union told its member states to test imports from the area, saying any genetically modified wheat would not be sold to consumers.

South Korea lifted the ban a month ago after the local food safety regulator found no unapproved genetically modified grain in recent U.S. shipments to the Asian country.

The U.S. Agriculture Department initially announced the discovery of the modified wheat. No genetically engineered wheat has been approved in the United States for commercial production.

The U.S. department 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.

Altering the wheat allows it to survive when a popular weed killer made by Monsanto, called Roundup, is sprayed on fields.