Ecological impacts of traditional crop plants - a basis for the assessment of transgenic plants

For risk assessment of transgenic higher plants, pursuant to European Union Directive 94/15/EEC, traits of the organism are important. To verify the assumption that behaviour of a plant can be predicted from its traits, the ecological impacts resulting from the cultivation of eleven non-transgenic crop species were studied. It was hardly possible to infer effects directly from traits. Ecological impacts of agricultural practices are more easily identifiable. Adverse effects linked to certain traits frequently correlate with maladjustment to local environmental conditions (e.g. climate). Less attention is paid to these effects within the scope of conventional risk assessment. It is concluded that: effects cannot be fully anticipated from phenotypic traits, although this is a prerequisite for the currently practised form of risk assessment; the significance of the parameters 'gene transfer' and 'invasiveness' is much lower in practice than indicated by their importance in risk assessment; and ecological impacts of major practical importance are not taken into account, because they concern agricultural practice. Limitation of risk assessment to impacts on ecosystems NOT used agriculturally leads to an unacceptable limitation of the scope of protection. Since only phenotypic traits are deemed significant for possible risk, restriction of risk assessment to transgenic plants seems inappropriate. The introduction of more "ecologically beneficial" breeding goals in terms of a prophylactic and extensive environmental protection is proposed in the long term, to allow more consistent regulations that do not place transgenic plants at a disadvantage. To partially relieve the current shortcomings, Annex II B of EU Directive 94/15/EEC could include (e.g.) a question about whether the genetic modification allows, promotes or requires changes in agricultural practice and possible environmental impacts resulting from practice that has been modified due to the new traits