S.Korea halts sale of Canadian wheat, flour after Alberta GMO discovery announced (updated)

CJ CheilJedang

18/06/2018 10:41

* GM variety developed to withstand Monsanto weed-killer 
    * Impact "limited" due to small Canada market share -source

 (Adds S.Korea wheat importer comment, details, bullets)
    SEOUL, June 18 (Reuters) - South Korea has suspended the
sale of wheat and flour from Canada after the North American
nation announced last week the discovery in mid-2017 of an
unapproved genetically modified trait in Alberta province. 
    "We will only allow sale of wheat products that are
confirmed not to contain unapproved genetically modified wheat,"
South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said in a
statement on Monday. 
    The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on June 14 the
grain containing a genetically modified trait, developed by
Monsanto Co  BAYGn.DE  to tolerate its Roundup weed-killer, was
found after it survived herbicide spraying.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1TG211 
    Following the announcement of the GMO wheat discovery,
Japan's farm ministry last week suspended its tenders and sales
of wheat from Canada.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1TH4OW 
    "The impact of suspending the sale of Canadian wheat and
flour would be limited because the share of Canadian wheat
imports is small," said a source from CJ Cheiljedang Corp
 097950.KS , one of South Korea's major wheat importers and
flour millers. 
    Canada is one of the world's largest wheat exporters and is
South Korea's No.3 wheat supplier, after the United States and
Australia. 
    In 2017, South Korea imported 226,355 tonnes of wheat from
Canada, accounting for 9.2 percent of the country's total wheat
imports, according to food ministry data. 
    As of June 15, South Korea had taken 89,683 tonnes of
Canadian wheat for this year, making up 8.3 percent of the
country's total wheat imports. 
      

 (Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Tom
Hogue)
 ((jane.chung@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5667; Reuters
Messaging: jane.chung.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))