Language requirements for the notifications
Language requirements for the notifications
In its meeting on September 8th 2015, the Board for Gene Technology (GTLK) decided to continue broadening the language range of the notifications in certain cases. The operators can send notification forms filled in English if neither the person with main responsibility nor his/her deputy are native Finnish or Swedish speakers, and neither of them have sufficient skills in these languages to provide information required by the gene technology regulations. The GTLK decision applies only to contained use notifications considering work with class 1 or 2 GM microbes and plants or class 1 GM animals (in the 14 § and 14 a § of the Gene Technology Act). In such cases the GTLK secretariat communicates with the operator in English. Should expert statements of the notification be required, they will still be mainly written in the official languages (Finnish or Swedish) but will be translated if necessary.
The Board decision does not apply to applications concerning class 3-4 use with GM microbes or plants, nor to applications on class 2 GM animals (i.e. notifications specified in 14 b § of the Gene Technology Act). Nor does it apply to applications on the deliberate release of GMOs, as public consultation is involved in their handling procedure. Such applications are those concerning deliberate release of GMOs in other purpose than marketing (= field tests; 17 § of the Gene Technology Act) or placing on the market of a product (20 § of the Gene Technology Act).
GTLK’s decision is valid for the present.
