South Korea Lifts U.S. Wheat Ban & Bladderpod Hearings

South Korea Lifts U.S. Wheat Ban & Bladderpod Hearings

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

After a random appearance of volunteer GE wheat plants were found in just one field in Oregon this spring Japan and South Korea temporarily suspended new purchases of U.S. soft white winter wheat. Investigations by APHIS and WSU into the incident have been ongoing. Ag Information Network’s Greg Martin has this recent update.

MARTIN: South Korea has lifted the ban on imports of U.S. wheat after the local food safety regulator found no unapproved genetically-modified grain in recent shipments. The Korea Food and Drug Administration reports that expanded inspections of 45 samples of wheat and flour imported from Oregon and another 160 samples from other states showed all were free of the unapproved GM wheat strain discovered at a farm in Oregon. The Korea Flour Mills Industrial Association says local bidding for U.S. white wheat can resume this week. However, the Korea Food and Drug Administration says it will continue to check U.S. wheat and flour imports for unapproved genetically-modified wheat strains. Japan’s ban remains in effect.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hearings on the endangered species listings for the Umtanum desert buckwheat and White Bluffs bladderpod are set for tomorrow, July 11. The desert buckwheat hearing is from 9 a.m. to noon at the Benton County Justice Center in Kennewick. The Bladderpod hearings are from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. Both those meetings are at the TRAC facility in Pasco. ESA listings for both species would affect thousands of acres of privately owned land in Franklin County.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Ag Information Network.