This bill was posted on the Particip.gov.md platform on June 11, and the comment period ended on June 25 (the post received fewer than 100 views). Then, on June 29, the bill was already included in the working agenda and approved at an interministerial meeting of the state secretaries-general, according to a timeline of events posted on his Facebook page by social activist Alexander Sainsus, chairman of the nongovernmental organization Lurenom.
According to his interpretation, the draft bill provides for:
- simplified market access for GMOs,
- a drastic reduction in authorization costs,
- the repeal of existing restrictions and some of the country’s international obligations in this area,
- official permission to grow GMO crops (according to the author of the post, this is “something that, although currently prohibited, is already happening without any oversight from the ministry”).
“What should concern us? The lack of genuine public debate and consultation with the scientific community, farmers themselves, environmentalists, beekeepers, and independent experts. At the moment, the bill is on hold due to the (apparently unplanned) resignation of the government, but that doesn’t mean it has been forgotten,” concludes Alexander Sainsus.
