Evaluation of the impact of flows of tolerant transgenic organisms to various broad-spectrum herbicides

Given the characterisation and evaluation of the gene flow from oilseed rap e done by INRA, CNRS and Cetiom, the present paper aims to investigate the possible agro-environmental impacts of gene flow from herbicide-tolerant ge netically-modified (CM) oilseed rape (seed loss outside and inside the fiel d, pollen dispersal, interspecific hybridization). We identified two main i mpacts of the release of such varieties in French agricultural systems: the possible questioning of CM content norms for the harvest of non-GM rape fi elds, and of the long-term effectiveness of such weed control strategies th rough the development of tolerant weeds (oilseed rape and hybrids). This text is an extract from a report that summarises French research on ge ne flow carried out by Cetiom towards the end of the two-year French morato rium on genetically-modified oilseed rape and sugar beet.