Moldova does not produce genetically modified food, but it could be imported

So far, experts from Moldova haven’t found any genetically modified foods or organisms. Constantin Mihailescu, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, said that lately in Moldova a special lab has been working within the Moldova State University. Several dozens of products and crops have been tested there, but no genetically modified organisms have been discovered. Previously, Moldova was ordering such tests in London. According to Mihailescu, there aren’t any genetically modified crops grown in Moldova, and there are no products made of genetically modified organisms. However, the researches in this field have just begun. At the same time, the minister mentioned that because of the complexity of the testing procedures, imported foods are not subject to examinations. Therefore, it is not excluded that such food gets on the Moldovan market. Moldova has ratified several international documents regarding the protection and sustainable exploitation of biological diversity. By signing these documents, Moldova committed itself to not spread genetically modified organisms. With the support of the UN Environment Programme, several projects have run in Moldova, aiming to train specialists and to implement the national biosecurity strategy. In a seminar held on June 21 by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources there have been discussed several issues such as: the institutional requirements for the effective performance of the national system of biosecurity monitoring, inspection and control, the development of management strategies concerning the risks of using GMOs, and the requirements for labelling, transporting and packing the GMOs. 18 countries grow genetically modified crops, among which there are the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Bulgaria and Romania. Each year the acreage of such fields increases, expanding to millions of hectares. The main genetically modified crops are the soybean plant, which represents more than 61% of all the GMOs, the cotton plant, the corn and the rape. Experts say that so far the negative effect of the GMOs on people’s health hasn’t been proved scientifically.