Import and processing of cotton MON15985xMON1445

COGEM has been asked to advice on an application concerning the import and processing for use in food and feed of cotton line MON15985 x MON1445. Cultivation is not part of this application.
The hybrid cotton line was produced by crossbreeding of the two genetically modified parental lines MON15985 and MON1445. As a consequence, the hybrid line contains the genes cry2Ab2 and cry1Ac and therefore the line is resistant to certain insects of the Lepidopteran order. In addition, the hybrid cotton line expresses cp4 epsps which confers tolerance to herbicides containing glyphosate. Also, the marker genes nptII and uidA are present and simplify the selection of transformed cotton cells.

In Europe, no wild relatives of cotton are present and modern cotton cultivars do not possess any of the attributes commonly associated with problematic weeds. There are no reasons to assume that the genes inserted will increase the potential of the cotton to establish feral populations. Moreover, cotton cannot survive the climatological conditions in Northwest Europe. Therefore, COGEM is of the opinion that incidental spillage of seeds of this cotton line will not pose a risk to the environment in Northwest Europe.

In view of these considerations, COGEM is of the opinion that the import and processing of cotton line MON15985 x MON1445 does not pose a significant risk to the environment in the Netherlands.