On Tuesday, January 20, the Russian governmental lawmaking commission has viewed and approved a draft bill which could prohibit cultivating plants containing genetically modified organisms (GMO).

      "The bill imposes a ban on cultivating and breeding of genetically modified plants and animals in Russia, except for those used for expert examinations and scientific research," the report says.

      The government will also have the right to ban imports of GMO-containing foods to Russia on the basis of monitoring data. Besides, the document presumes imposing administrative liability for using GMO with violation of the regulations.

      The bill was submitted by the Ministry of Education and Science and came shortly after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had said Russia would not import GMO foods. He also required analyzing the market and monitoring the situation. Earlier, Russian President also said that the country's market should be cleaned of poor-quality and harmful products. However, leading dietology experts say that the damaging effect from GMO products has never been confirmed by any experiments.