Serbia bans GM crops
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The National Parliament of the Republic of Serbia has adopted a new law which completely prohibits growing GM crops, or anything made with them. This also means, for instance, that Serbia will not be importing any soybean meal made from GM soybeans, nor feeding it to cattle. But there seems to be a twist.

According to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture, the new law places restrictions on GMOs in laboratories, greenhouses, and field trials that are far more stringent than those prevailing in the European Union.

The earlier law, adopted in 2001, allowed the import of GM soybeans and soybean meal. Back then, Serbia was dependent on Brazil and Argentina for these products. Things have changed since then, with a drop in cattle production and a large increase in domestic soybean output.

The FAS report doesn't mention anything about GM testing requirements. With imports of soy for cattle feed essentially shut down, beef producers must rely on domestic soy, and Serbian soy prices are now much higher than those in the EU. Is someone being a bit too clever here? After all, farmers have been growing GM soy in Serbia for a while, and not all of them may have been caught yet.

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