June 7, 2004

Australia's AWB Says Tests Show No Karnal Bunt In Wheat

Tests in Australia and the U.K. confirm that Australian wheat is not contaminated with karnal bunt fungus, the focus in March of a trade row between Australian exporter AWB Ltd. and Pakistan, the company reported Monday.

Pakistan rejected the four cargoes of 150,000 metric tons of Australian wheat, saying that two rounds of tests confirmed the presence of the fungus, which can render the cereal unfit for human consumption.

AWB rejected this claim at the time and said Monday that independent quality testing confirmed karnal bunt was not present in the cargoes.

The latest tests were conducted by Central Science Laboratory, an agency of the U.K.'s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a "world renowned expert laboratory" in testing for the fungus, it said.

In addition, Australia's Department of Fisheries Forestry and Agriculture independently tested more than 100 samples of old crop wheat from across Australia "and the results identified no presence of karnal bunt," it said in a statement.

Andrew Lindberg, AWB's managing director, said samples of wheat were taken under Pakistani government supervision from all four rejected cargoes. But CSL did not find karnal bunt in any of the samples.

"AWB is pleased with the test results as they reaffirm Australia's reputation as a supplier of high quality, clean, white wheat, and vindicates our position," he said.

Wheat exports from Australia, a major global supplier, could be jeopardized if the fungus was found to be present in local crops.

Pakistan grain concern Tradesman International, which bought the four cargoes, resold them to buyers in Asia and the Middle East.