GMO

Putin signed the law prohibiting the production of genetically modified products

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to ban the cultivation and breeding of genetically modified plants and animals, except in cases where they will be used in testing and scientific research.

The document was published on the legal information portal on Monday.

“Growing plants and animals, whose genetic program is changed with methods of genetic engineering and who contain genetically engineered material that cannot be a result of natural processes, is banned except for growing such plants and animals while conducting evaluations as well as for research and development,” the document said.

Importers of genetically modified products should pass registration procedures, while their products could be banned after monitoring of their impact on people’s health and environment.

The legislation also sets penalties for breaching the law, from about $160 to around $780 for officials and from about $1,600 to around $7,800 for legal entities.

Dozens of countries worldwide, including Russia, require food producers to label genetically modified foods, with opponents of GMOs arguing that the health risks associated with such products have not been adequately studied.

www.sputniknews.com

Russia to completely ban import of GMO products

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Russian State Duma has adopted the first draft law which completely prohibits the import and cultivation of any agricultural products containing genetically modified organisms (GMO) as of April 24. The deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Science and Education Nataliya Tretiyak reported the only exception will be made for scientific and research studies.

GMO products need to be registered according to the new law

The draft law also creates a system of expertise of imported production on the presence of GMO. All production containing genetically modified organisms should be registered and included in the special database. The new law will affect the part of import supplies of feedstuffs, as so far in Russia 12 breeds of GM-corn and 6 breeds of GM-soybeans have been approved.

“If we are speaking about absolute figures then we are talking about 2 million tonnes of soybeans and 53,000 tonnes of corn” stated Tretiyak. Russia has been almost completely using GM soybeans and corn as raw materials for compound feed production.

Tougher penalties needed for breaking the new GMO law

At the same time, a number of members of the Parliaments called to implement more tough liability for subject which will violate the new rules. The draft law provides fines of maximum RUB 500,000 (US$ 10,000), which according to experts is very low. “We should take into account that the profit from cultivation GMO crops in Russia exceeds the profit from raising non-GMO production” commented Parliament member Vladimir Fedotkin.

www.allaboutfeed.net

Russian government passed a proposal to ban the cultivation of GMO crops

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The Russian government has passed a proposal to ban the cultivation of GMO crops. The proposal states that no GMO crops are allowed to be cultivated on Russian soil, except for scientific research. The import of these crops will also be limited. All the importers all will have to pass the special registration. With this proposal, which will be put to vote later, Russia is a step closer to a complete ban on GMO products. At the moment, the import of 18 GMO products is allowed.

www.freshplaza.com, www.ria.ru

Russia Postpones GMO Registration By Three Years

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A state registration for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), initially planned to begin July 1, 2014, has been postponed for three years, according to earlier media reports.

There are complications involving the lack of generally accepted and approved expert methods for determining and defining which produce should be defined as a GMO product.

“State registration of such organisms is possible only after comprehensive examinations. And developing appropriate methods, taking into account advanced science and international experience, and equipping the laboratories of expert organizations requires a long time,” as reported by the Cabinet’s press service.

It was namely these circumstances that led to the postponement of the mandatory registration. The deadline is now July 1, 2017.

www.fruitnews.info

Russia may totally ban GMO products

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Russian parliamentarians will submit to the State Duma a bill, which severely restricts imports of genetically modified agricultural products, and completely banning their domestic production, RT reports.

This bill is an amendment to the existing law “On Safety and Quality of Alimentary Products”, which sets norms for the maximum content of transgenic and genetically modified components in food. The powers to establish that norm, go to the government and products with excessive content of GMO components should be banned for turnover and imports.

Evgeny Fyodorov, the author of the bill and a member of the United Russia party, said that it does not suppose a total ban on imports of genetically modified products, but imposes government’s control on it. He adds that the draft law will be introduced to the State Duma for viewing in two weeks.

The head of Russia’s Organic Farming Union, Yakov Lyubovedsky, believes that the passing of the bill would show if the Duma can defend the country’s independence and the interests of population. He also added that GMO was an experiment on humanity itself and that the industry could do very well without genetically-enhanced plants and animals.

He also noted that the limitations would create a threat of uncontrolled and dangerous spread of illegal genetically modified crops.

The bill will be submitted to the State Duma in two weeks’ time and its authors claim that its chances of passing are very high.

www.freshplaza.com