Study on the Safety Management of Environmental Risk Assessment Field Trial of Genetically Modified Crops in Korea

Abstract

The cultivation area of genetically modified (GM) crops is increasing worldwide reaching 175.3 million hectares by 2013. Currently in Korea cultivation of GM crops is not allowed and they are being imported for food and forage use only. According to the Cartagena Protocol of Biosafety and The Act on Transboundary Movements of Living Modified Organisms,etc in Korea, the risk assessment for the newly developed or imported GM crops and confined field trials are being conducted throughout the nation. This study was carried out to monitor the safety management of 8 different confined field trials in Jeolla, Chungcheong, Gyeongsang, and Jeju provinces in 2014 and 2015. For each field, separation of district, management of field facility and cultivation, and management records are monitored. Safety management to prevent the unintentional gene flow by seeds and pollen disperse were well performed. However, as some drainage was blocked or running towards the outside of the confined field, precaution to prevent the unintentional gene flow by the soil runoff needs to be reinforced. In the future, based on the biological characteristics of GM crops, more studies on the confined field trial plan, the monitoring period and frequency are required.