ANKARA - ''We do not apply any special control on genetically modified products neither in domestic market nor in import market in Turkey,'' stated Turkish Agriculture & Rural Affairs Minister Mehdi Eker while replying question without notice submitted by Justice & Development Party (AKP) Balikesir deputy Turhan Comez.
Eker noted, ''Turkey imported 88,674 tones of corn, 48,331 tones of soy and 8,674 tones of canola in 2005 to use as food product or in food industry. We have imported corn from Argentina, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, the United States and Moldova; soy from Ukraine, the United States, Argentina, Belgium, Romania and Serbia-Montenegro; and canola from Ukraine.''
''The United States has 72 percent, Argentina has 17 percent, Canada has 10 percent and the rest has 1 percent of total plantation area of genetically modified plants in the world,'' informed Eker.
He stated, ''we do not apply any special control over genetically modified products neither in domestic market nor in import market. But, we have not allowed import of products which have the label of 'genetically modified organism' so far.''
''Also we do not plant products which have genetically modified organisms in Turkey,'' added Eker.
He noted, ''Turkey does not have any legal arrangement (about usage of genetically modified products as food or animal feed) except the binding rules of Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety of which Turkey is a party.''