Ukraine to sprout GMO labs
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This does not mean that the Ukraine wants to harness science for the benefit of agriculture. Quite the opposite, in fact. By 2010, the country could establish as many as 25 GMO testing labs for the "comprehensive and timely control of food." This is said to be at the request of the food industry. Activists are not complaining.

According to a report in the English-language ForUm, Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko has issued the decree to create the chain of laboratories because a government resolution approved a mechanism for labeling GMO food. The document foresaw that food containing over 0.1% of GM content would be labeled from July 1, 2009.

The introduction of GMO food labeling has been postponed until January 1, 2010, because the Ukraine does not yet have enough GMO testing labs to allow producers to meet all of the necessary requirements on food labeling.

The Ukraine's famous humus-rich black soil accounts for one-third of the world's black soil and holds great potential for agricultural production. If it were to adopt modern agricultural practices, it could thwart Europe's political ambitions regarding modified crops by simply out-producing the EU's hired gardeners. For now, the prospects of the Ukraine's membership in the EU remain contested.

Multinational lobby groups Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth operate subsidiaries in the Ukraine. Without a doubt, they are advising Ukrainians about how to "harmonize" their food controlswith those of the EU.
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