Bulgaria Ruling GERB Withdraws GMO Ban Proposal

Bulgarian MPs are debating Thursday the most argued about text in the GMO Act - the general ban to grow GMO on Bulgarian soil. File Photo

The parliamentary group of the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) had withdrawn their project to impose a 5-year ban on growing GMO on Bulgarian soil.

In the beginning of February GERB announced they would pass the amendments in the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Act, but will request a moratorium for 5 years, meaning the experimental growing of GMO on open land plots would begin in 2015.

Last week the GMO Act was discussed simultaneously by the MPs from the Parliamentary Environment Committee and in plenary hall.

Deputy Environment Minister, Evdokia Maneva, reported that the Committee's MPs had unanimously endorsed the proposal to prohibit the release of GMOs into the environment and also to add that all NATURA 2000 areas will be protected from GMOs. Maneva said the last changes voted by the Committee are so restrictive that there is no need for a moratorium.

The MPs are debating Thursday the most argued about text in the Act - the so-called article 80 introducing the general ban to grow GMO. The ban would not apply to GMO already on the market.

On Wednesday the Parliament passed the requirement for all foods containing GMO to have clear signs about the content with twice larger font than all other letters on the label and different color letters.

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