Will Japan Lift US Wheat Ban?

Following the presence of non-authorized genetically modified wheat in Oregon in May, representatives from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture met with the United States Department of Agriculture to discuss progress on the investigation into the allegations, Food Navigator Asia is reporting.

While Japan is still undecided on whether or not they will lift bans on importing Western white wheat, United States Agriculture minister Tom Vilsack says business could resume as usual as early as August.

The temporary ban was placed in May following the investigation, and would not resume until there was clear information about the GMO contamination.

Japanese officials have also been conducting their own tests, and although they have not found anything, there have already been contracts for substitute white wheat from the US and Australia.

The contracts are for 23,000 metric tons of club wheat and 2,000 tons of soft red winter wheat from the US and 2,000 metric tons of Australian white wheat.