Companies@UA: База компаний Украины

Kyiv, August 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Businesses that introduce products without labels with information on genetically modified organisms (GMO) they contain could be fined under Article 23 of the law on protection of consumer rights (fines from two to 100 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, depending of the seriousness of violation and 10-times the value of the products, taking into consideration the prices on the day the products were bought).

The state committee for technical regulation and consumer policy announced the possible fines.

The committee's comment on cabinet resolution No. 468 of May 13, 2009 on the labeling of food and farming products with GMO or produced using GMO has been posted on its official Web site.

"Each package or other information carrier attached to the said food and farming products should have information on GMO content," reads the posting.

The committee said that the cabinet resolution does not apply to food supplied to supermarkets before the document took effect.

The committee said that the labeling of food and farming products containing over 0.9% of GMO or produced using GMO should be done by producers, suppliers and sellers, who introduce the food to the market.

If suppliers do not have information on the GMO content in products, from which new products were produced, the producers are to test the products for their GMO content.

In addition, the committee said that Article 15 of the law on state biosecurity system in creation, research, transportation and use of GMO bans the industrial production and introduction of GMO and products produced using GMO before they are registered by the state.

The committee said that the 0.9% content of GMO in products is the ratio of genetically modified protein of soybean, corn to the total protein content of soybean and corn. The ratio does not depend and does not change on the level of total protein content in the product, the committee said.

At present, 11 types of genetically modified farming products are registered in the world: soybean, corn, potatoes, rise, rape, wheat, cotton, tobacco, sugar beet, tomatoes, marrows, pawpaws, plums and melons.