Russia to protect citizens from GMO food without violating its WTO obligations - Putin
Photo: EPA
Russia has enough mechanisms to protect the market and citizens from genetically modified food, without violating its obligations to the WTO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
"We must build our work so as it will not be contrary to our obligations within the WTO, but even with the circumstance taken into consideration, we nevertheless have lawful methods and instruments to protect the domestic market and citizens," the president noted during the meeting with members of the council of the parliament's upper house.
The market and citizens must be protected from poor-quality products and food, consequences of consumption of which are not fully studied yet, he notes.
"We can, must and will do it," Putin said, noting that the issue was discussed by the Security Council recently.
"We must act carefully, not to the detriment of our obligations within the WTO, but it can be done," the president repeated, noting scientific and laboratory research should be used. "We will do it together with the public, specialists and deputies," he said.
Putin with regret noted there was no control over GMO use. "We cannot 100 percent say what a volume enters our market," he said.
During the meeting, one of the senators noted the turnover of GMO seeds amounted to about $50 billion. The main holder of the right was the United States, he said. The senator asked the president to control it and noted that a draft law was submitted to ban import of such food into the country.
