EU legislation provides for monitoring (ex-post assessment) and reporting on the socio-economic implications of the deliberate release and placing on the market of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) was requested to review for policy makers the main findings of scientists who are active worldwide in the field of socio-economic assessment of GMOs. The JRC requested the assistance of FAO in co-organizing an “International workshop on socio-economic impacts of genetically modified crops” for this purpose. The workshop was held in November 2011, and this report presents the proceedings. The report summarizes the findings from 21 international experts who have conducted socio-economic analyses of GMO crops around the world. Their findings confirm that GMO crops have generated significant socio-economic benefits for farmers, consumers and technology suppliers in the countries where they have been adopted, but the level and distribution of benefits depends on the regulatory and institutional setting as well as the agronomic conditions in a particular location. The report concludes that more independent and robust socio-economic studies, both ex ante and ex post, on the impacts of GM crops are necessary, in addition to strict science-based safety assessments, to make the regulatory decision-making on GM cultivation more objective and transparent.