The State Duma adopted a bill banning GMOs in Russia

The ban was not complete and does not apply to research

Today, June 24, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the third reading the draft law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in Regarding the Improvement of State Regulation in the Field of Genetic Engineering”.

The text of the bill implies that since its entry into force on July 1, 2017, it is prohibited to grow and breed genetically modified plants and animals on the territory of the Russian Federation. The ban does not apply only to cases of genetic examinations and scientific research , reports TASS .

Article 2
Article 21 of the Federal Law of December 17, 1997 No. 149- “On seed production” (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1997, No. 51, Art. 5715; 2011, No. 30, Art. 4596), add the following fourth part:

"It is forbidden to import into the territory of the Russian Federation and use for planting (planting) seeds of plants whose genetic program is modified using genetic engineering methods and which contain genetically engineered material, the introduction of which cannot be the result of natural (natural) processes, except for planting planting) of such seeds during the examination and research work. ”.

The bill also includes the registration of all genetically modified organisms imported into the country, which will be released into the environment in the future, and the products obtained with their use. For violation of the new law, administrative liability and fines are provided: for officials from 10 to 50 thousand rubles, for legal entities - from 50 to 100 thousand rubles.
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Back in March of this year, the Minister of Agriculture, Alexander Tkachev, said that the ministry’s plans for the coming years are to increase grain yield by 15–20 million tons without using GM crops, which, as we know, have increased resistance to diseases, parasites and more yield. But, since genetically modified seeds cannot be used, the Minister proposes to increase the grain yield by increasing the number of crops and, accordingly, arable land.

During the previous discussion in the Committee on Science of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, they noted that they support the government bill introducing a complete ban. In scientific circles, legislative initiative was not supported. Lawmakers were sent an official letter from the Russian Academy of Sciences signed by the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov, which expressed an opinion against the ban on GMOs, but the scientists could not fundamentally change the situation.

Since the beginning of research on the effects of GMOs on the human body back in the 1970s, it was not possible to identify the negative effects of genetically modified products on human health. Today, GM crops are grown on 12% of the world's arable land.