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

<p style="text-align: justify;">GTS 40-3-2 soybean has been field tested in the United States (1991-1993), Canada (1992), Puerto Rico (1993), Argentina, and Costa Rica. Agronomic studies on seed yield, and visual observations on germination characteristics of seeds, final stands, disease and insect susceptibility supported the conclusion that soybean line GTS 40-3-2 was as safe to grow as other soybean varieties and had no potential to pose a plant pest risk.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">Gene introgression from transformed soybean line GTS 40-3-2 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 GTS 40-3-2.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Cultivated soybean, <i>Glycine max</i>, naturally hybridizes with the wild annual species <i>G. soja</i>. However, <i>G. soja</i> is only found naturally occurring in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the former USSR, and 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 glyphosate tolerance trait from the transgenic line 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 GTS 40-3-2, other than that conferred by resistance to glyphosate herbicide. Resistance to glyphosate-containing herbicides will not, in itself, render soybean weedy or invasive of natural habitats since none of the reproductive or growth characteristics were 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 glyphosate use. The glyphosate-tolerant plant could easily be controlled by mechanical means or by using herbicides that are not based on glyphosate. Cultivated soybean does not exhibit any weedy characteristics in the United States and Canada, although related species are reported as weeds in Japan and China. It was concluded that soybean line GTS 40-3-2 had no altered weed of invasiveness potential compared to commercial 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 line GTS 40-3-2 revealed no negative effects on nontarget organisms, suggesting that the relatively higher levels of the protein in the transgenic plant tissues were not toxic to beneficial organisms. The novel protein CP4 EPSPS did not result in altered toxicity or allergenicity properties as demonstrated from studies including the acute oral mouse gavage study, the digestive fate study, and the fact that homologous EPSPS proteins are ubiquitous in nature and common in plants, fungi and microbes. Furthermore, 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. It was determined that the genetically modified soybean line GTS 40-3-2 did not have a significant adverse impact on organisms beneficial to plants or agriculture, or on nontarget organisms, and was not expected to impact on threatened or endangered species.</p>

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

<p style="text-align: justify;">GTS 40-3-2 has no novel phenotypic characteristics that would extend its use beyond the current geographic range of soybean production. Since there are no wild relatives of soybean in Canada and continental United States and since soybean is not an invasive species, the novel trait will not be transferred to unmanaged environments.</p>
