A draft law submitted to the Russian parliament
seeks to impose
punishment up to criminal
prosecution to producers of genetically-modified organisms harmful to health or the environment.
The draft legislation submitted on Wednesday
amends Russia's law
regulating GMOs and
some other laws and provides for disciplinary
action against individuals and firms, which
produce or distribute
harmful biotech products
and government officials who fail to
properly
control them.
At worst, a criminal case may be launched
against a company
involved in introducing
unsafe GMOs into Russia. Sponsors of the
bill say
that the punishment for such deeds should
be comparable
to the punishment allotted
to terrorists, if the perpetrators act
knowingly
and hurt many people.
“When a terrorist act is committed, only
several people are
usually hurt. But GMOs
may hurt dozens and hundreds.
The
consequences are much worse,
and punishment should be
proportionate
to the crime,” co-author Kirill Cherkasov,
member of the State Duma Agriculture
Committee told RT.
Russian criminal code allows for a punishment
starting with 15
years in jail and up to
a life sentence for terrorism.
Less severe misdeeds related to GMOs
would be punishable by
fines. For instance
the administrative code would provide for up
to 20,000 rubles (US$560) in fines for failure
to report an
incident of environmental pollution,
which would also cover
harmful GMO
contamination, if sponsors of the bill have
their way.
Russia gave the green light to import of
GMOs and planting of
bioengineered seeds as
part of its accession to the WTO, but the
Russian government remains skeptical of GMOs.
In April, Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev
announced that his cabinet will postpone
the
beginning of certification of GMO plants
for growth in Russia due
to lack of proper
infrastructure needed to test their safety.
The government also opposes imports of
GMO food, saying the
country has enough
farmlands to provide enough regular food
to feed itself.
But the new draft legislation, even if adopted,
would be
difficult to enforce in practice.
Proving a direct link between
certain GMOs
and health or environmental problems could
be
difficult, considering that harmful effects,
if they manifest,
may take years to become
apparent.
Critics of the draft bill also point out that
it fails to suggest
amendments to laws
regulating textile production and
pharmaceutical industry, both of which have been using
genetically-altered products for years.
“The global pharmaceutical industry uses
GMOs much wider than
food industry does.
And there is the question, who should be
punished in this case – producers of medicines
which are used to
treat people, or those who
want to ban them,” commented Aleksandr Korbut, vice-president of the Russian grain union, to Izvestia newspaper."
Once again we see the noble stand
taken by the Russian Government. 
While the American Government led by Satan,
are supporting
the manufactures of deadly GMO foods because
they are working with Monsanto to kill as many
people as possible, Russian Leaders are led
by a Christian spirit to ban GMO plants and
foods to save their people and people
of other countries alive !
Praise The Lord for Russia as it brings
"Good Tidings" "out of the North" and
frustrates the plans of the ;
"Jesuit Papal Assassins" !