The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has reviewed five genetically modified (GM) plants to determine whether they pose an increased plant pest risk relative to non-modified competitors. APHIS has determined that these GM plants are unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated plants and, as a result, are not subject to increased regulation and may be safely grown and bred in the United States. The plant varieties reviewed are as follows:

• CoverCress, pennycress modified for altered product quality (decrease in erucic acid, fibre and glucosinolate in seeds).
• Hjelle Advisors, rice with altered nutritional profile (increased protein in leaves and seeds).
• Toolgen, soybean with altered seed oil profile (increase in oleic acid and a decrease in linoleic acid).
• Inari, soybean with altered plant architecture, yield, seed quality and nodulation (altered reproductive transition timing, increased seed number, seed size, growth, and root nodulation).
• Better Seeds, cowpea with altered plant architecture and flowering time to determinate growth habit and early flowering.