(Source: http://ru.123rf.com)

The Unified Register of GMO products may appear in Russia in three years. Currently there is no Uniform State Register of genetically modified organisms and the products derived from GMOs. The RF Ministry of Health proposes to introduce a unified register of GMO products which will be available to citizens and businesses, according to the order draft of the department which appeared at the single information portal on the preparation of normative and legal acts on Friday.

Currently there is no Uniform State Register of genetically modified organisms and products derived from GMOs. “After the creation of the unified register  the information on registered genetically modified organisms and the products derived with the use of such organisms or containing such organisms will be available to individuals and legal entities” - the project notification says. It is noted that such a register will be introduced from July 1, 2017.

In September 2013 the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree according to which the fields can be seeded with genetically modified seeds from June 1, 2014. In February 2014 the State Duma introduced a bill on the ban of the cultivation of GMO food products.

The Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich stated that the government decree legalizing GMO-seeds will be corrected. As it was previously explained by Medvedev, the government decree introducing certified GMO seeds was the result of the complex process of accession to the World Trade Organization. Nevertheless, it will be corrected, because the time limits of the decree turned out to be too optimistic, the Prime Minister noted.

Later the Cabinet of Ministers postponed the introduction of state registration of genetically modified organisms to July 1, 2017. Medvedev stressed that even if the certification will appear in three years, it does not mean that it will allow using the genetically modified material. The Head of the Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky said that amount of illegal GMO-seeds in Russia amounted to 400 thousand hectares.

The President Vladimir Putin has demanded to protect the citizens from the use of products derived from GMOs. He noted that this can be done in compliance with the obligations under the World Trade Organization. The Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Monitoring Service has repeatedly stated that the quality of seeds is the basis of food security of the Russian Federation and that the developed countries have strict control system of their turnover.

The agency noted that the development, tests and seed production of transgenic varieties of agricultural plants is monopolized by several transnational corporations around the world, which may restrict the access to the data on the adverse effects of their wide use.