<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Field Testing</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Transgenic soybean lines A2704-12, A2704-21, and A5547-35, were field tested in the United States (1990-1993) and line A2704-12 was field tested in Canada. Field trial reports from these tests demonstrated that the transformed lines did not exhibit weedy characteristics, and had no effect on nontarget organisms or the general environment.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Outcrossing</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Gene introgression from transformed soybean lines A2704-12, A2704-21, and A5547-35 was extremely unlikely as there are no relatives of cultivated soybean in the continental United States and Canada, and soybean plants are almost completely self-pollinated. Furthermore, the reproductive characteristics such as pollen production and viability were unchanged by the genetic modification resulting in A2704-12, A2704-21, and A5547-35.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cultivated soybean, <i>Glycine max</i>, naturally hybridizes with the wild annual species <i>G. soja</i>. Although <i>G. soja</i> is endemic to China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the former USSR it is not naturalized in North America, although it may possibly be grown in research plots. It was concluded that the potential for transfer of the herbicide tolerant trait from the transgenic lines to soybean relatives through gene flow was negligible in managed ecosystems, and that there was no potential for transfer to wild species in Canada and the continental United States.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Weediness Potential</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">No competitive advantage was conferred to lines A2704-12, A2704-21, and A5547-35, other than that conferred by tolerance to glufosinate ammonium. Resistance to glufosinate ammonium will not, in itself, render soybean weedy or invasive of natural habitats since none of its reproductive or growth characteristics have been modified. In the unlikely event of the formation of a herbicide tolerant hybrid, there would be no competitive advantage conferred on any hybrid progeny in the absence of sustained glufosinate ammonium use. The glufosinate ammonium tolerant plant would easily be controlled by mechanical means or by using alternative herbicides. Cultivated soybean is highly unlikely to establish in non-cropped habitats and there have been no reports of soybean surviving as a weed or exhibiting weed-like characteristics. It was concluded that soybean lines A2704-12, A2704-21, and A5547-35 had no altered weed or invasiveness potential compared to commericial soybean varieties.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Secondary and Non-Target Adverse Effects</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Field observations of soybean lines A2704-12, A2704-21, and A5547-35 concluded that they did not have a significant adverse impact on organisms beneficial to plants or agriculture, or on other nontarget organisms. These events were not expected to impact on threatened or endangered species as the PAT enzyme is not known to have any toxic properties. The high specificity of the enzyme for its substrates makes it unlikely that the introduced enzyme would metabolize endogenous substrates to produce compounds toxic to beneficial organisms.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Impact on Biodiversity</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Soybean lines A2704-12, A2704-21, and A5547-35 have no novel phenotypic characteristics that would extend their use beyond the current geographic range of soybean production. Since there are no wild relatives of soybean in Canada and the continental United States and since soybean is not an invasive species, the novel trait will not be transferred to plant species in unmanaged environments.</p>
