On Sunday, a senior official with the Grain Board of Iraq told Dow Jones Newswires that it will buy a "good amount" of wheat from the U.S., Canada and Europe in its latest tender.
However, it would not buy Australian grain.
Wilson Tuckey, a former Australian minister, said that this rejection could be because of the kickbacks allegedly paid to Saddam Hussein's regime by AWB the Australian wheat monopoly.
Quote:
"If 300 million (Australian) dollars went to someone who then used it buy ammunition and blow up my people, as a Shiite, I'd be uncomfortable about doing business with them."
Australia is currently conducting an inquiry into whether AWB breached Australian law by paying US$221.7M million in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime, during the UN oil-for-food program.
Iraq has suspended dealings with AWB until after the completion of the Australian inquiry, which is scheduled to report to government by March 31.
A clear cut case of what goes around, comes around.
This is a very good lesson for all companies to learn from, that they would be wise to take on board, namely; ensure that all business deals are ethical.
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