Fed: GM corn falls into Aust wheat shipment
A bucketload of genetically altered corn has threatened Australian efforts to keepwheat exports free of GM produce.
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service says the GM corn, from the UnitedStates, fell from a conveyor belt while being shipped around the Appleton grain handlingfacility in Melbourne this week.
An AQIS spokesman says the corn fell through a 15 centimetre wide fumigation hatch,landing on 13,500 tonnes of Australian wheat destined for export to Columbia.
He says service staff, concerned about a possible computer malfunction, checked thearea and found the small amount of GM corn laying on top of the wheat.
The spokesman says the corn was removed, and the silo was drained from the bottom withthe last few tonnes scanned to ensure it was free of any corn.
The GM corn is part of a 48,000 tonne shipment that's been brought to the country tohelp farmers feed drought-hit stock.
AAP RTV sw/sb/wz/rp
KEYWORD: GMO (CANBERRA)
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