There are no GMOs in Serbia, but is there pressure to allow trade and production of these products?

Photo: Sandis Helvigs on Unsplash

There are no GMOs in the territory of Serbia, neither in production nor in trade, Minister of Agriculture Branislav Nedimovic said today.

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Nedimovic pointed out that the state has a clear and rigorous law that is in effect.

"Certain business circles are always interested in pushing this topic, just as it is the fact that membership in the World Trade Organization should regulate this area," said Nedimovic, when asked if there is pressure from the EU and the US on Serbia to allow trade in GMOs.

When it comes to controlling subsidies in agriculture, he stressed in a statement for Novosti that in every business there are those who try to bypass the law, achieve some interest overnight.

Since there have been people, there has been fraud, he said, and it is up to the state to ensure that citizens' money is spent in the right way, and that is why we have started even more rigorous control of the spending of all subsidies we give.

"There are no special measures that will be considered, every dinar from a Serbian citizen is equally important. Whether this is about incentives in farming, fruit growing, vegetables or for the purchase of equipment and machinery," says Nedimovic.

Branislav Nedimovic, Photo: Tanjug/Rade Prelic

Speaking about the proposal to the Ministry of Finance when it comes to debts to the pension fund PIO and agricultural pensions, he says that this is a multi-sector problem that has accumulated to such an extent that it amounts to several billion euros today.

He specified that not each farmer can receive the same pension whether or not they pay contributions.

"The key novelty that we proposed is to determine the amount of the contributions according to the economic strength of a farm. The contributions will not be the same for those who own two, and 200 hectares," the minister points out.

He also spoke about the problem of irrigation in Serbia. As he says, irrigation is one of the systemic things that no one has solved for more than 40 years.

"We've achieved impressive figures in only three years," he says.

He specifies that in the first phase alone, about 49,000 hectares have been covered, in the second, which is currently being implemented, another 40,000, while the start of eight more new projects is also expected this year.

When asked what is happening with the arrival of the Tonnies company in Serbia, he explained that it is not realistic to expect the arrival of the German company until the global situation with African plague is resolved.

"These are extremely large investments for companies like Tonnies to undertake unnecessary risk. When the situation is brought under control globally, then we can talk about it," says Nedimovic.

(Telegraf Biznis/Tanjug)