Officials with Japan's Ministry of Agriculture were in Canada this week to assess the situation concerning the genetically modified (GM) wheat found in Alberta.

Japan has temporarily suspended shipments of wheat from Canada.

The group met with a number of parties including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) and Cereals Canada. They also visited a terminal in Vancouver to ensure procedures were being followed.

Cereals Canada President Cam Dahl says that he and the Government of Canada have been reaching out to other countries as well, to reassure them that no GM wheat as entered the grain system.

South Korea has also closed its borders to Canadian wheat.

Mitchell Japp from Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Agriculture updated producers on the situation this week at Canada's Farm Progress Show in Regina.

He told the group that the CFIA has done extensive testing and determined that the GM wheat did not match any of the 450 wheat varieties registered in Canada.

Japp added they’ve narrowed it down to a Monsanto event that was tested in the late 90’s - early 2000’s and the nearest location for the research trials was over 300 kilometers away from where it was found.

He notes they still have no idea where it came from since it also didn’t match any of the previous GM wheat events in the U.S.