Türkiye: Biotechnology and Other New Production Technologies Annual

Türkiye’s Biosafety Law continues to threaten imports and imposes a heavy financial burden on the country’s agri-food sector. The number of approved of genetically engineered (GE) events remains arbitrarily fixed at 36 and only includes traits in corn and soy for feed use. There are no approvals for food use due to public sensitivities about technology. These same sensitivities make it difficult for Türkiye to make meaningful revisions to the Biosafety Law. For industrial uses, there are 13 enzymes and one beta-lactoglobulin produced from GE Aspergillus oryzae and one microbial mass (strengthened and inactivated GE Aspergillus oryzae) that are approved. Since our last report, the Turkish Government re-established the Biosafety Board for reviewing and authorizing new GE products.