Russia to be allowed cultivation of GMO crops

Date:12-12-2013

Russia will be allowed to cultivate genetically modified(GM) crops – according to government decree number 839 dated September 23, said Russian Agroholdings head of market researches of Bunge Company Oleg Sukhanov.

The decision shall enter into force on 1st July 2014, while the registration of seeds, he said, will take a couple of years, so the first harvest of genetically modified soybeans in Russia can be harvested in 2016-2017.

Now Russia GMOs can be cultivated only on experimental fields. Also it is only allowed imports of certain varieties of corn, potato, soybean, rice and sugar beet (in total 22 plant lines). However, several interlocutors of the Russian media "Vedomosti" disclose that vertically integrated agricultural holdings already cultivated and used GMO feed crops, but unofficially.

First resolution for cultivating of GMO crops can be obtained in 1.5-2 years after the start of registration, according to the president of the Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevskiy. ICAR University CEO Dmitry Rylko said that this process will take at least three years. How much the certificate will cost, the regulation does not say. "It will depend on the regulations, which will govern this procedure ," - said the representative of Rosselkhoznadzor Alexei Alexeenko.