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

<p style="text-align: justify;">The maize lines 676, 678, and 680 have been field tested in the major maize growing regions of the United States since 1995. Field data regarding seed germination rates, yield characteristics, disease and pest susceptibilities, compositional analyses, and numerous other reports supported that conclusion that maize lines 676, 678, and 680 were as safe to grow as any other male sterile maize and would not present a plant pest risk.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">Multiple barriers, including sterility of the maize lines 676, 678, and 680, ensured that gene introgression from these transformed lines into wild or cultivated sexually-compatible plants was extremely unlikely and such rare events would not increase the weediness potential of any resulting progeny or adversely impact biodiversity.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">In the United States, where there are few plant species closely-related to maize in the wild, the risk of gene flow to other species is remote. Cultivated maize, <i>Zea mays</i> L. subsp. mays, is sexually compatible with other members of the genus Zea, and to a much lesser degree with members of the genus Tripsacum.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">It was determined that the relevant introduced trait, male sterility, was unlikely to increase weediness of maize lines 676, 678, and 680. There was no indication that the presence of a specific DNA adenine methylase enzyme, would convert maize into a weed. As well, resistance to glufosinate ammonium would not, in itself, render maize weedy or invasive of natural habitats.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cultivated maize is unlikely to establish in non-cropped habitats and there have been no reports of maize surviving as a weed. In agriculture, maize volunteers are not uncommon but are easily controlled by mechanical means or by using herbicides, other than glufosinate ammonium. <i>Zea mays</i> is not invasive and is a weak competitor with very limited seed dispersal.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">It was determined that genetically modified maize lines 676, 678, and 680 did not have a significant adverse impact on organisms beneficial to plants or agriculture, nontarget organisms, and were not expected to impact on threatened or endangered species. Analysis of maize lines 676, 678, and 680 identified no toxic components present in concentrations significantly different from concentrations in nontransgenic maize. Furthermore, the genetic modification in maize lines 676, 678, and 680 did not result in the production of new proteins, enzymes, or metabolites, in the plant, known to have toxic properties, and plants did not exhibit any pathogenic properties.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">Maize lines 676, 678, and 680 have no novel phenotypic characteristics that would extend their use beyond the current geographic range of maize production. Since the risk of outcrossing with wild relatives in the United States is remote, it was determined that the risk of transferring genetic traits from these maize lines to species in unmanaged environments was insignificant. It was determined that the relative impact on plant biodiversity was neutral, as was the impact on animal and microbe biodiversity since the introduced genes were not expected to alter the plant&#39;s metabolism and as such, novel compounds would not be produced.</p>
