Associated Press | March 26, 2004
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - As a state trade delegation negotiated contracts in Japan, a group from that country asked North Dakota's agriculture commissioner on Friday to resist the introduction of biotech wheat.
The Japanese coalition presented petitions it said was signed by 414 companies, consumer organizations and labor unions representing more than 1.1 million people.
Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said the group's concerns should carry weight with North Dakotans because Japan is the state's top export customer for spring wheat.
"Our message to them is we're pleased that you're here ... and we're going to do everything possible to make sure that as we go forward we can continue to access the Japanese market," Johnson said.
He said members of the Japanese delegation warned they would stop buying North Dakota wheat if genetically modified strains are commercialized in the state.
The North Dakota Wheat Commission said Japan imports 50 million bushels of spring wheat from North Dakota annually, worth about $190 million. Johnson said officials must weigh scientific evidence and consumer concerns as they continue to debate the future of biotech crops.
Monsanto Co., which is based in St. Louis, is developing a wheat strain that is unaffected by the company's widely used Roundup weed killer. Roundup kills all plants, but a genetic change would allow a farmer to spray a wheat field without killing the crop along with the weeds.
North Dakota advocates of genetically modified wheat restrictions are preparing a ballot measure that would give the agriculture commissioner power to decide whether farmers could plant the seeds for harvest.
Meanwhile, state officials said Friday that a North Dakota trade group touring Asia had secured new contracts with Japanese businesses.
Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who is leading the trade mission, said Unity Seed of Casselton sold 1,000 metric tons of soybeans in Japan, in addition to sales made earlier in Taiwan.
Carl Peterson, president of Peterson Farms Seed of Harwood, has extended his stay to meet with Japanese soybean buyers next week.
"We've met with exactly the kinds of buyers we need to," Peterson said. "I'd be surprised if business didn't start to flow very soon."Associated Press:
