POST-RELEASE
May 28, 2013
Law on biosafety: reloading?
EffectivenessfailureoftheLawofUkraineonbiosafety – thelegaldocumentregulatingtheusageandcirculationofgeneticallymodifiedorganismsintheagro-industrialcomplexofUkraine, was the subject ofa round-table on agro-industrial issues involving state authorities, the scientific community, agricultural producers, associations and institutions with a special interest in agriculture and business.
On May 28, 2013,the EBA Biotechnology Committee co-organized the roundtable, which was conducted by the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, headed by Anatoly Kinah, for interested parties concerned with the legitimacy of GM products usage in the Ukrainian agro-food production chain.
BloomYa.B.– academician, Director, Instituteofgenomics and food bio-technologies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, outlined the essence of this issue in his introduction:
“GM crops circulation in Ukraine remains an open issue despite numerous attempts to resolve it at the state level. The Law onbiosafety aimed at legislative resolution of the issue fails to work, and causes substantial criticism on the part of agricultural producers, traders, and representatives of related institutions responsible for protecting human and animal health. This is a very sensitive issue in this country”.
BloomYa.B.statedthat End Clauses in the Law were obviously feeble and inadequate themselves.
“ThereareseveralArticlesthatcrosspurposesandresultincontradictionsstatedinConclusions”.
The most important issues of state registration, setting up a National GM crops registry, conducting corresponding expertise and tests for GM crops, developing reliable methodologies and networks of national testing labs, respecting intellectual property rights are among the issues that require immediate resolution.
Discussion participants expressed their concern with the impossibility to conduct export transactions in cases when GMO traces are identified in agricultural produce. This seems to be inevitable though, since logistical chains fail to prevent GMO from getting into agricultural produce. It was also mentioned during discussions that some soya, corn, and oil seed rape were genetically modified. Therefore, the chancesof GMO being present in agricultural produce continuously increase, and this factis general knowledge.
Grainsectorrepresentativesremindedmeeting participantsthatdespitegoodgrainharvests,Ukraineislosingitsexportpotential.
Oleksandr Klimenko, President, Ukrainian Grain Association:
“According to projections, this year Ukraine may produce56 million tons of grain.28 milliontonsofgrainmaybeexported. In cases where issues related to implementation of the Law on biosafety fail to be resolved, Ukraine may lose its international reputation through so-called “manual operation”. Progress cannot be stopped, and the country can not remain isolated from the global community”.
Despite the fact that Ukraine claims to be among the countries intending to increase its economic potential andwellbeing by hi-tech and innovative economic development, public policies on practical use of biotechnologies remain unclear and this is an intolerable situation.
Discussion participants also stressed the need to introduce logical changes to the Law and other related legal documents. This should be done with the objective of aligning biosafety standards of Ukraine to international norms, thus allowing to lift existing contradictions and discrepancies, and to ensure institutional coordination in resolving issues of GMO practical use, state registration processes and further monitoring.
UkrainestrivestousebestinternationalpracticeandEuropeannorms, atthesametimeremainingindependentinitssovereignrighttoadoptvariousdecisions. This was what Pavlo Matiusha, Coordinator, Biotechnology Committee, European Business Association (EBA) emphasized. He stressed that GM seeds are not imported by companies represented by the EBA. It is important to fight illegal imports, so further legislative improvements are necessary. He also mentioned that agricultural research companies are uninterested in operating in countries that fail to respect intellectual property rights.
Pavlo Matiusha, Coordinator, Biotechnology Committee:
“This is a multi-faceted issue. Frame Law needs changes to avoid contradictions. Related laws, such as the Law on Seeds, also should be amended.The priority ismutual recognition of the expertise and regulatory data from abroad.
Therefore, issuesraisedduringdiscussionsprovethatthe biotechnologiessectoris faced withseveralchallengestoday, namely theimperfectandineffectiveLawonbiosafetyThisfacthampersUkraine’sadvanceinagricultureandscientificresearch, delaysinvestmentinUkrainianagriculture, andpreventsfarmersandotheragriculturalproducersfromreceivingadditionalprofitbroughtaboutbyprogressiveagriculturaltechnologies.
Introductionofcivilizedrelationshipsandtransparentrulesforallparticipatingparties, andamendmentstotheLawonbiosafetytomakeiteffective should be supported by the authorities and be adopted by Parliament by end-2013.
Information
About the EBA Biotechnology Committee:
The EBA Biotechnology Committee was established in April 2011 as a platform for companies working in the field of agricultural biotechnology. The main strategic objective of the Committee is to create conditions for the commercialization of biotech crops in Ukraine.
For more information, please contact Oksana Romaniuk, Communications expert Biotechnology, Grain and Oilseed Committees call +38 (044) 496-06-01 or e-mail: Oksana.Romaniuk @ eba.com. ua
European Business Association (EBA) - the premier organisation for foreign business in Ukraine - brings together 965 European, Ukrainian and international companies. The EBA was established in 1999 as a forum for discussion and resolution of problems facing the private sector in Ukraine. This initiative of business people was supported by the European Commission. Being a non-profit Association of legal entities, the EBA sees its core mission as representing the interests of European and domestic investors in Ukraine, and improving the investment climate has been the EBA’s major concern since the moment it was founded.Please visit our web-site for additional information .
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