Ukraine plans to strengthen its checks for genetically modified organisms, with soybeans of particular concern, according to government officials in the nation. Ukraine’s State Food Safety and Consumer Protection Service made the comments this week. While it is not illegal to grow GMO plants in Ukraine, no GMOs have the official registration needed for legal cultivation, according to Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today newsletter. Government officials say that if an export shipment is found to contain GMO products, the watchdog will seize and dispose of the shipment and then investigate its origin to find the producer who broke the rules. The comments come as the country also plans to increase grain export capacity. An agriculture export company in Ukraine intends to build a new terminal to be completed in 2018 with an export capacity of four million metric tons a year.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.