The Ukrainian parliament needs to resolve an issue of uncertainty in biotechnological activities and production of agricultural products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) at the legislative level, if the country chooses a course towards the liberalization of such products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is ready to help it.
“This is an initiative of Americans themselves. In Ukraine, there is uncertainty with GMOs and biotechnologies. That is, we have a law, but there are no by-laws, and this, in fact, creates a legal vacuum in this area. On the other hand, we have partially grown GMO crops – soy and rapeseed. So there needs to be some order. It is necessary to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to GMOs,” Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Mykola Solsky said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, the USDA has offered its assistance to Ukraine if the parliament decides to liberalize the issue of GMO production in the country.
“Progress in this direction was planned even before the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, for three days we arranged a meeting at the USDA with specialists leading all these programs,” Solsky specified the details of the trip of the Ukrainian delegation to the United States at the end of November 2021.
Solsky also said that about 80% of meat in the EU countries is produced from animals raised on GMO-containing feed, while GMO-containing fruits and vegetables are practically non-existent due to lack of demand.
“In Europe, there is no special philosophy about this. Americans do practical things that bring more money. It’s later, if the technology is so cheap that it can be used for eggplants, they will do it too. Therefore, GMO corn and GMO soybeans are the most consumed now – main carbohydrate and main protein, from which its development began. Now they are already working on GMO wheat,” the head of the committee said.
As reported, in August 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers supported the submission to the Verkhovna Rada of a draft law on state regulation of genetic engineering activities and control over the circulation of products with GMOs, this initiative is aimed at conducting a comprehensive review of existing legislation in the field of handling GMO products, and also allows to implement in Ukrainian legislation the normative acts in force in the EU.
The Verkhovna Rada has adopted law “On financial services and financial companies” (No. 5065) at the second reading.
The corresponding decision was supported by 248 deputies at a parliamentary meeting on Tuesday.
As reported, the draft law on financial services and financial companies was adopted as a basis on April 27.
The document expands the terminology used in the legislation on regulation of financial services markets, enshrines the principles of providing financial services and protecting the rights of customers (consumers) in order to ensure the functioning of a transparent and competitive market environment.
In addition, the provision on the obligations of a financial service provider to provide complete and comprehensive information has been expanded, to establish requirements not only for advertising of financial services, but also for any other form of dissemination of information about financial services in order to maximize the protection of clients from false or manipulative information.
The political parties Servant of the People, Opposition Platform – For Life, European Solidarity and Batkivschyna would overcome the five percent barrier if elections to the Verkhovna Rada were held on Sunday, according to the results of a survey conducted by the NGO Kyiv Institute of Sociology of Civil Society from July 15 to July 19, 2021.
According to the poll, which was presented at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Wednesday by chairman of Kyiv Institute of Sociology of Civil Society, MP Oleksandr Kovtunenko, among those who will vote and have made their choice, 23.1% are ready to support the Servant of the People party, 17.5% – Opposition Platform – For Life, 15.4% – European Solidarity, and 11.8% – Batkivschyna.
At the same time, there are still chances of getting into parliament for the political force of Strength and Honor, which would receive the support of 4.9% of Ukrainians, Oleh Liashko’s Radical Party (4.1%) and Groysman’s Ukrainian Strategy (3.8%).
Civic Position would have won 2.8% of the votes cast, Shariy Party – 2.1%, Holos – 1.5%, Svoboda – 1.2%, Opposition Bloc and National Corps – 0.8% each, For Maybutnie group (For the Future) – 0.3%, People’s Front and Samopomich – 0.1% each. Two percent of respondents would vote for another party, and 7.7% of respondents would spoil the ballot or cross out all candidates.
The poll was conducted by Kyiv Institute of Sociology of Civil Society, commissioned by the American company West Market Industrial LLC (U.S.). Some 3,000 respondents were interviewed using the CATI method (computer-assisted telephone interview). The audience is the population over the age of 18, living in all regions of Ukraine, except for the temporarily uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and Crimea. The error in the representativeness of the study does not exceed 2.8%.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has canceled the Crimea free economic area, which was introduced by law in August 2014.
The adoption of relevant bill No. 5502-d on recognizing as invalid the law of Ukraine on the creation of a free economic area “Crimea” and on the specifics of performing economic activities in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and on amending some legislative acts of Ukraine was supported by 328 MPs.
“Taking into account the circumstances that operated in 2014, the law, in fact, introduced preferential conditions for the continuation of economic activities in the temporarily occupied territory. At the same time, the law regulated the implementation of the rights of Ukrainian citizens who remained to live in the temporarily occupied territory and introduced additional restrictions (in particular, customs), in the tax legislation such citizens were equated to non-residents,” the government said in the explanatory note.
The authors of the bill said that such restrictions have led to discrimination against citizens of Ukraine who have remained to live in the temporarily occupied territory or are registered in this territory.
In particular, the status of non-residents led to restrictions on access to banking services in the territory controlled by Ukraine. International and national human rights organizations have repeatedly stated about the negative consequences of the law for the observance of human rights and freedoms.
In addition, bill No. 5502-d proposes to regulate the procedure for persons entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory, securing the right to free secondary legal aid for Ukrainian citizens living in the temporarily occupied territory and ensuring the implementation of the right to inheritance for such persons.
The Verkhovna Rada at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday also supported bill No. 5501, which amends the Tax Code regarding the administration of taxes and fees in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and bill No. 5503 on amendments to the Customs Code in connection with the adoption of the law on the abolition of the Crimea free economic area.
CRIMEA, FREE ECONOMIC AREA, PARLIAMENT, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT
The Parliamentary Committee of the Nation’s Health, Medical Assistance and Medical Insurance has supported a bill on the use of cannabis for medical purposes.
The committee adopted the corresponding bill No. 5596, developed by the MPs of different factions, at a meeting on Wednesday.
According to the explanatory note to the bill, it provides for the need to comply with Ukraine’s international legal obligations regarding the circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.
The bill provides for the classification of hemp depending on the content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in it: medical hemp (Cannabis) with a low content of THC in dry matter (0.2-1%) and Cannabis with a high content of THC (more than 1%), as well as industrial hemp, the content of THC in the dry mass of which does not exceed 0.2%
The bill proposes, in particular, to create regulatory conditions for the legal circulation of cannabis, in particular for use in medical practice, scientific and technical activities, to establish requirements and determine the features of controlled circulation of cannabis in certain areas of activity in accordance with the requirements of international law, to resolve issues related to organization of activities for the circulation of hemp at each stage of such a turnover, including, inter alia, operations for the import/export/transportation through the territory of Ukraine, storage and sale of hemp.
Also, the bill will define the requirements for business entities that can carry out operations related to the circulation of hemp, define and regulate the distribution of functions and powers of regulatory bodies that ensure the fight against illegal traffic in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors, to control the use of hemp for purposes specified by law.
According to the authors of the document, it should give an impetus to the development of medical science and the pharmaceutical industry by introducing the possibility of using hemp for medical and research purposes, to help improve the level and quality of medical services for the population in the field of palliative medicine, the methods of which, in particular, are based on the use of medical hemp.
The bill should also ensure that patients can purchase and store cannabis for medicinal purposes as medically indicated and prescribed by a doctor.
The bill provides for amendments to the foundations of the legislation of Ukraine on health care regarding the consolidation of the human right to access the necessary medicines, including, among other things, drugs containing narcotic drugs and/or psychotropic substances and precursors, the law On Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Precursors regarding the provision of the possibility of using plants of the genus hemp for industrial, scientific and medical purposes, the law On the List of Permitting Documents in the Sphere of Economic Activity regarding the inclusion in this list of permits for the use of facilities and premises intended for the implementation of activities for the circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.
At the same time, the committee rejected the alternative bill No. 5596-1.
On June 1, a group of MPs registered bill No. 5596 on amendments to certain laws regarding the regulation of the circulation of cannabis for medical purposes, scientific and scientific and technical activities in the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament said on its website. “After the adoption of the bill, Ukrainian patients will have access to treatment and relief of complex diseases, which is in line with modern world practice,” one of the authors of the legislative initiative Yevhenia Kravchuk (the Servant of the People parliamentary faction) wrote on Facebook.
She said that there will be enhanced control over the circulation of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes. In particular, according to her, the bill provides for an electronic register of all hemp-based drugs, they can be purchased exclusively with electronic prescriptions from doctors.
The MP said that any activity related to the circulation of medical cannabis will also be licensed.
According to Kravchuk, after the adoption of the bill, Ukrainian scientists and the pharmaceutical industry will be able to conduct clinical trials in line with international standards, and Ukraine will join the countries that successfully use hemp for medical purposes.
