Import and processing of cotton MON88913 x MON15985

COGEM has been asked to advice on an application concerning the import and processing for use in food and feed of a hybrid cotton line. Cultivation is not part of this application.
The cotton line MON88913 x MON15985 was produced by cross-breeding two genetically modified cotton lines. The hybrid line contains two cp4 epsps genes and the cry1Ac and cry2Ab2 genes. As a result, this line is tolerant to glyphosate-containing herbicides and is resistant to insects of the Lepidopteran order. The cotton line is grown commercially in Australia and South Africa.

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. Furthermore, establishment of feral populations in cotton producing countries is never observed. Moreover, cotton cannot survive the climatological conditions in Northwest Europe. COGEM is of the opinion that without irrigation, cotton volunteers cannot survive and establish themselves in the wild. Therefore, COGEM is of the opinion that incidental spillage of seeds of this cotton line will not pose a risk to the environment in the Netherlands nor in Northwest Europe.

Furthermore, COGEM is of the opinion that the molecular characterisation is performed adequately.
In view of these considerations, COGEM is of the opinion that the import and processing of cotton line MON88913 x MON15985 does not pose a significant risk to the environment in the Netherlands.