Kiev, Ukraine
February 24, 2012

USDA/FAS GAIN report UP 1209

Highlights:

The Ukrainian Parliament has adopted amendments to the State Law on Biosafety, establishing a reference lab and mandating registration of the first and all consecutive releases of GMO onto the open market. These will become law upon the signature of the President. GMO events themselves must still be approved and registered at the State Registry, per existing law.

General Information:

On February 23, 2012 the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine adopted amendments to the Law of Ukraine on State System of Biosafety. The current amendments add more detailed explanation to the GMO monitoring process and mandates establishment of a reference lab.

The amendments institute mandatory monitoring of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products produced using GMOs. Within this framework of GMO monitoring, procedures for GMO release into the open marketplace and the ownership of GMOs must be declared by the owner in an application, and the event has to be registered by the reference lab. In the application, the owner must submit the State registration number for the GMO that is obtained as a result of previously established approval and registration procedures. These amendments also specify that any consecutive change in the ownership of GMOs must be declared by the owners and submitted on file at the reference lab.

According to the latest amendments, the Government of Ukraine (GOU) will establish a reference lab within three months from the day following the date of their signing into law. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is charged with selecting the reference lab. This entity would not be a newly created one but rather one of several existing institutions that have been engaged in the process of GMO testing and monitoring, and thus have accumulated some experience on the subject.

The provisions of the latest amendments to the Law of Ukraine on the State System of Biosafety do not result in any major changes in current state of affairs on biotech in Ukraine. Ukrainian legislation requires any biotech product to be tested, approved, and registered by the State prior to official release into the open system in the country. Biotech products must undergo State trials in Ukraine prior to starting the approval process.

Website: http://www.fas.usda.gov/

Published: February 29, 2012