Australia's monopoly wheat exporter A.W.B. says Iraq has decided not to do business with the company until it is cleared in an alleged corruption scandal under the U.N. oil-for-food program.
A.W.B. officials said Monday that the Iraqi government will not consider the company's bid for an upcoming deal for a million tons of wheat.
The Iraq contract had been seen by Australian industry analysts as providing the first indication of whether A.W.B.'s international export program would be affected by the scandal.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
A.W.B. is accused of paying bribes to the former government of Saddam Hussein for lucrative wheat contracts.