- I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
- II. PROCEDURE FOR ISSUING APPROVAL
- III. REQUIREMENTS FOR USE IN CLOSED SYSTEMS AND FOR DELIBERATE RELEASE INTO THE ENVIRONMENT OF GMOs
- IV. HANDLING, PACKAGING AND TRANSPORT OF GMO AND GMO PRODUCTS
- V. REGISTER OF GMO AND GMO PRODUCTS AND LICENSE REGISTER
- VI. SUPERVISION
- VII. PENAL PROVISIONS
- VIII. TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
LAW ON GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS1
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Scope of Regulation Article 1
This Law shall govern the procedure for issuing approvals for use in closed systems, for deliberate release into the environment, for placing on the market or for transit of genetically modified organisms and products containing genetically modified organisms, conditions for use in closed systems and for deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms, handling, packaging and transport of genetically modified organisms and products containing genetically modified organisms, as well as other issues of importance for genetically modified organisms and products containing genetically modified organisms.
Ban on trade Article 2
No genetically modified organisms or product containing genetically modified organisms can be traded or grown for commercial use at the territory of the Republic of Serbia.
Article 3
Agriculture products of non-animal origin are not considered genetically modified organism if contain up to 0.9% threshold of genetically modified organism and impurities of genetically modified organisms.
Seed and reproductive material are not considered genetically modified organisms if contain up to 0.1% threshold of genetically modified organisms and impurities of genetically modified organisms.
Definitions of Terms Article 4
Terms as used in this Law shall have the following meaning: 1) genetic material shall mean part of a plant, animal, fungus, microorganism, virus or viroid containing hereditary information; 2) a genetically modified organism shall mean an organism whose genetic material has been modified through methods of modern biotechnology; 3) an incident shall mean any event leading to uncontrolled release of a genetically modified organism into the environment, resulting from use in closed systems, deliberate release
1 Law on Genetically Modified Organisms was adopted by the National Parliament of the Republic of Serbia on May 29, 2009 and published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 41/09.
into the environment or placing on the market of a genetically modified organism that may represent an immediate or delayed hazard for the human life and health and the environment;
4) user shall mean a legal person, entrepreneur or natural person using genetically modified organism or product containing genetically modified organism in closed systems and on the occasion of deliberate release into the environment ;
5) methods of modern biotechnology shall mean in vitro techniques of nucleic acids, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and direct introduction of nucleic acids into cells or organelles and cell fusion beyond the taxonomic level of family overcoming natural reproductive or recombinant barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection (classical methods);
6) living modified organism shall mean any genetically modified organism or product containing genetically modified organism capable of reproduction and transfer of genetic material, including a sterile organism capable of growth;
7) monitoring shall mean planned and systematic monitoring and supervision of genetically modified organisms, their use in closed systems, monitoring of the procedure of deliberate release into the environment and monitoring and supervising the environment where a genetically modified organism was deliberately released, as well as potential harmful effects on the environment and human health;
8) deliberate release into the environment shall mean: -contained release of a genetically modified organism for the purpose of carrying out experiments, demonstration experiments and development of new varieties;
9) unintended release into the environment shall mean accidental release of a living modified organism into the environment due to an unforeseen event, accident, improper handling, storing, etc.;
10) authorized laboratory shall mean a legal person carrying out testing of genetically modified organisms and products containing genetically modified organisms;
11) product containing genetically modified organism shall mean any product consisting of, or containing, or derived from one or several genetically modified organisms, regardless of the degree of processing;
12) risk assessment shall mean a scientific assessment carried out under the “case by case” procedure involving identification of potential harmful effects of genetically modified organisms or products containing genetically modified organisms for human health and the environment which may arise during use in closed systems, deliberate release into the environment, placing on the market or transit. In risk assessment the precaution principle must be obeyed;
13) handling shall mean final processing, reprocessing and storing of genetically modified organisms or products containing genetically modified organisms;
14) developerdeveloper shall mean a legal person, entrepreneur or natural person creating a genetically modified organism or product containing genetically modified organism;
15) use in closed systems shall mean any operation whereby genetically modified organisms or products containing genetically modified organisms are grown, reproduced, stored, transported, disposed of, destroyed or in any other manner used in the area separated by physical barriers, or where a combination of physical, chemical or biological barriers prevents the contact of genetically modified organisms with the outside world and their effect on the environment.
Exemptions from Application Article 5
The provisions of this Law shall not apply to the product containing genetically modified organism (hereinafter referred to as: the GMO product) which is not a living modified organism (hereinafter referred to as: the LMO) and is not used as food, feed, medicine or auxiliary medicine.
The provisions of this Law shall not apply to genetically modified microorganisms and to GMO products which are not LMOs, if they are intended for medical use and if their use is governed entirely by other regulations.
Expert Council for Biological Safety Article 6
For the purposes of examining professional issues and providing expert opinion referring to genetically modified organisms (hereinafter referred to as: GMOs), the minister responsible for agriculture (hereinafter referred to as: the Minister), in accordance with regulations governing state administration, shall issue a decision to establish a special working group – the Expert Council for Biological Safety (hereinafter referred to as: the Expert Council).
Activities of the Expert Council Article 7
The Expert Council shall:
1) assess the accuracy of data in the application submitted in order to obtain approval for use in closed systems, for deliberate release into the environment, based on the accompanying documents, whereby the data from global practices is used;
2) carry out risk assessment for deliberate release into the environment,
3) provide expert opinion to the ministry responsible for agriculture (hereinafter referred to as: the Ministry) on fulfillment of the requirements for granting the license for use in closed systems;
4) provide expert opinion to the Ministry on fulfillment of the requirements for granting the
approval for deliberate release into the environment, 5) examine the results of deliberate release into the environment; 6) examine proposals for amending regulations on GMOs; 7) examine other expert opinions concerning GMOs and GMO products.
The Expert Council shall operate under the “case by case” procedure, and in its activities it shall be guided by data based on scientific knowledge and observe the precautionary principle.
The Expert Council shall issue the Rules of Procedure.
Conflict of Interest Article 8
The Expert Council member who is family-related, or business and/or financially-related to the applicant may not participate in the decision making process in the course of Expert Council providing its opinion.
II. PROCEDURE FOR ISSUING APPROVAL
Approval
Article 9
The approval shall be issued for use in closed systems, for deliberate release into the environment, of GMOs and GMO products.
Application Article 10
The procedure for issuing approval for use in closed systems, for deliberate release into the environment shall be initiated based on the application submitted by the developerdeveloper, user or their authorized representative in the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter referred to as: the applicant).
The application shall contain:
1) GMO description;
2) business name, corporate domicile and address of the legal person or entrepreneur, name,
domicile and personal identification number of the natural person, or the name and
address of their authorized representative;
3) location where GMO is released into the environment;
4) plan and methods of supervision of GMOs and GMO products, as well as plan of measures
in case of an incident;
5) risk assessment with regard to human health and the environment.
The application shall also be submitted in case a GMO results from cross-breeding of two or more GMOs by applying traditional methods.
The application shall be submitted to the Ministry, and the approval in the form of a decision shall be issued by the Minister.
The Minister shall prescribe the contents and form of the application for use in closed systems, for deliberate release into the environment, of GMOs and GMO products, as well as the manner of protection of confidential data in the application.
Correcting Deficiencies in the Application Article 11
If the application does not contain the data referred to in Article 10 of this Law, the Ministry shall
inform the applicant to correct the identified deficiencies within the period of 30 days.
If the applicant fails to correct the deficiencies within the specified period, the application shall be refused.
Confidential Data Article 12
The applicant may identify certain data in the application as confidential.
The confidential data shall be kept by all persons with access to confidential data for the period of 10 years from the date of the application submission.
The confidential data shall not be deemed to be data referred to in Article 10, paragraph 2, items 1) to 5) of this Law, nor the data already available to the public.
It shall be prohibited to use the data from one application on the experiments undertaken for risk assessment purposes in other applications without the written approval of the data owner within the period of 10 years from the day the experiment was carried out.
The data identified as confidential shall remain confidential when the applicant withdraws the application.
The Minister shall determine the list of persons with access to confidential data and prescribe the manner of treating, keeping and exchange of data between the persons granted access to confidential data.
Authorized Laboratory Article 13
The testing of GMOs and GMO products for the purposes of identifying and quantifying the genetic modification shall be carried out by the laboratory authorized by the Ministry.
The authorization shall be granted by the decision of the Minister.
The Minister shall revoke the authorization if it is found that the authorized laboratory fails to meet the prescribed requirements, or that the authorization was granted based on incorrect and false data.
The Minister shall prescribe the requirements that must be fulfilled by the authorized laboratory concerning the facilities, technical equipment and human resources, as well as methods used for testing of GMOs and GMO products.
Testing and Report on Testing Performed Article 14
The applicant shall submit to the authorized laboratory a certain quantity of the material for the
purposes of GMOs and GMO products testing, at the request of the Ministry, during the consideration of the application or following the obtaining of the approval.
The authorized laboratory, on completing the testing referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall prepare the report and submit it to the Ministry.
The authorized laboratory and its employees shall keep the data specified as confidential, as well as the results obtained through testing, in accordance with this Law.
The Minister shall prescribe the manner and deadlines for reporting referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article.
Informing the Public Article 15
Following the receipt of the application, the Ministry shall make available to the public the contents of the application in at least one daily newspaper distributed on the entire territory of the Republic of Serbia, and through electronic media.