Moscow, Russian Federation
October 30, 2007
USDA/FAS GAIN Report: RS7077
Original:
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200711/146292887.pdf
Russian Federation: Federal law
sets biotech labeling threshold at 0.9 percent
Report Highlights
On October 25, 2007,
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law #234-FZ
titled "On Amendments to the Federal Law of the Russian
Federation On Protection of Consumer Rights" and to the
“Second Part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation".
Russia’s new law is consistent with European Union
regulations, and raises the threshold for mandatory labeling
of food ingredients made from genetically engineered
material (GMOs) to 0.9
percent. Prior to the amendment, trace amounts of GMO food
ingredients required labeling.
Executive Summary
On October 25, 2007,
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law #234-FZ
titled "On Amendments to the Federal Law of the Russian
Federation On Protection of Consumer Rights" and to the
“Second Part of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation".
Russia’s new law is consistent with European Union
regulations, and raises the threshold for mandatory labeling
of food ingredients made from genetically engineered
material (GMOs) to 0.9 percent. Prior to the amendment,
trace amounts of GMO food ingredients required labeling. The
use of bioetch food ingredients is a politically sensitive
issue in Russia, and last week Deputies of the Moscow Duma
appealed to President Putin not to sign the amendment, and
instead maintain the original law that required mandatory
labeling of any presence of GMO material in food.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta published the law on October 27, 2007,
which will enter into force on December 12, 2007.
0.9 Percent Biotech Threshold
in the Consumers’ Rights Protection Law
The amended paragraph of
Article 10 Item 2, reads as following1:
Article 10. Information about Goods (Tasks, Services)
…
2. Information about Goods (tasks, services) shall contain
the following:
…
data on the basic consumer properties of goods (tasks,
services); as for foodstuffs, information about their
composition (including the names of food additives used in
the process of making foodstuffs, of biologically active
additives, information on the presence in foodstuffs of
components produced with the use of organisms modified by
genetic engineering, in cases when the presence of these
organisms in the component is more than nine tenth of a
percent), on food value, purpose, conditions of use and
storage of foodstuffs, on the ways of cooking ready-made
dishes, on the weight (volume), date and place of
manufacture, packing (parceling) of foodstuffs, as well as
data on counter indications to their consumption in the case
of certain diseases. The list of commodities (tasks and
services) information on which should contain counter
indications to their application in certain diseases, shall
be endorsed by the Government of the Russian Federation;...
Other Relevant Reports
RS7053 Biotechnology/Russia
Establishes 0.9 % Threshold for Biotech Labeling
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200707/146291830.pdf
RS7028 Biotechnology/ Russian Sanitary Inspector Strengthens
Control over Biotech Food
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200703/146280576.pdf
RS7023 Biotechnology/”GMO-Free” Labeling in Food Products in
Moscow
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200703/146280370.pdf
RS7052 Biotechnology/Annual Report/2007
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200707/146291797.pdf
RS6014 Biotechnology/GMO Labeling Requirements
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200603/146187244.pdf
RS6015 Trade Policy Monitoring/Consumer Information about
Goods
http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200603/146187245.pdf
1 The amendment is in bold
letters. The non-official translation of the previous reading of
Article 10 of the Federal Law “on Protection of Consumers’
Rights” is given in GAIN Report RS6015 Trade Policy
Monitoring/Consume r Information about Goods. |
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