Turkey: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual
Turkey’s Biosafety Law (Law), published in March 2010, continues to cause substantial harm to Turkey’s agriculture and food sectors. An estimated 150 violations of the Law are being prosecuted, some under the charge of “biological terror”. Turkey amended its biotechnology regulation in May 2014 to remove some liability for responsible parties due to “contamination”, or low level presence (LLP). The number of violations increased in 2014 following a High Court decision in December 2013 to suspend two biotech approvals (MON810 and MON88017xMON810). The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MinFAL) has effectively suspended the approval for NK603xMon810 due to testing limitations. And a new challenge was introduced in October 2014 when MinFAL began requiring a government attestation that imports of enzymes and microorganisms, and products that utilize them, are not obtained from genetic engineering.
