In the EU, the consent holder of a particular GM crop is obliged to monitor the occurrence of unexpected adverse effects after its release on the market. As there is only limited experience with monitoring of unexpected environmental effects of GM crops, a literature inventory was performed of the unexpected environmental effects observed in countries where GM crops have been grown already on large areas in the last 10 – 15 years. The objective of this inventory was to find clues for developing protocols for monitoring environmental effects during post-release growing of GM crops.
The inventory primarily focused on crops grown in the Netherlands: maize (Zea mays), sugar beet (Beta vulgaris), potato (Solanum tuberosum), oilseed rape (Brassica napus) and alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa). In addition, information was also gathered about soybean (Glycine max) and cotton (Gossypium spp.). The inventory was restricted to field cultivation, post-harvest storage and transport to the processing industry. Effects during and after processing or effects on human health (food safety), and effects only observed under laboratory conditions were not considered.