Paragraph 1 Characteristics of the donor, recipient or (where appropriate) parental organism

The following matters shall be investigated and assessed in relation to any organism which is or will be a donor, recipient or parental organism—

(a)

the name, species, subspecies and strain of the organism;

(b)

the degree of relatedness between the donor, recipient (and where appropriate the parental) organism in relation to which the assessment is being carried out;

(c)

the sources of the organism;

(d)

the reproductive cycle of the organism;

(e)

history of prior genetic modifications to the organism;

(f)

the stability of the genetic traits of the organism;

(g)

the nature of the pathogenicity, virulence, infectivity, toxicity, and vectors of disease transmission of the organism;

(h)

the base sequence, frequency of mobilisation and specificity of the organism’s indigenous vectors;

(i)

the presence in the organism of genes which confer resistance;

(j)

the host range of an organism which is a parasite or pathogen;

(k)

the organism’s other potentially significant physiological traits, and the stability of those traits;

(l)

the organism’s natural habitat and geographic distribution;

(m)

the climatic characteristics of the organism’s natural habitat;

(n)

the significant involvement of the organism in environmental processes, including nitrogen fixation and pH regulation;

(o)

the interaction of the organism with other organisms in the environment and its effect on those organisms, including its likely competitive or symbiotic properties;

(p)

the ability of the organism to form survival structures, including seeds, spores or sclerotia.