Kina - Studying the environmental impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops based on joint efforts from Norway and China

This project will establish an important collaboration platform between the Plant Protection Centre, Norwegian Crop Research Institute (NCRI), and the National Centre for Transgenic Research and Commercialization (NCTRC), Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sci ence (JAAS) in China. By using the platform, our knowledge, expertise and experience, we could start a research collaboration on evaluation of the ecological risk of growing GM crops that have been generated and will be commercialised in the near future (June 2005). The potential impact of transgene escape to feral populations will be assessed via the ecological fitness in China and Norway of GM-inter-specific hybrids generated by out-crossing existing GM crops with wild relatives. We will establish a kn owledge base that characterises transgene outflow in GM maize and soybean, which are important crops worldwide. Although cultivation of GM crops is restricted in Europe, there is widespread concern in Europe about the use of GM crops in the non-European countries from which Europe imports its products. For example, the potential negative effect of GM herbicide tolerance soybean on biological diversity is an important issue. The proposed project will address these concerns, and intends to develop sustain able transgene containment systems and environmentally-friendly food production strategies. The NCTRC in JAAS is a well-equipped new centre for transgenic research. All the necessary facilities for carrying out such a project are available. A 5000m2 comp uter-controlled greenhouse allows us to conduct well-controlled experiments, while 160 ha of land can be used for carrying out field tests on the transgenic plants. By combining our expertise and facilities with their equipment and experience in transgeni c research, we can start a well-defined project on risk assessment and a biosafety investigation of GM soybean and maize. A detailed co-operation agreement has been signed by NCRI and NCTRC (attachment 2).