USDA APHIS Deregulates Herbicide Resistant GE Cotton

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced the deregulation of a cotton variety from Bayer CropScience genetically engineered (GE) for resistance to the herbicides glyphosate and p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-Inhibitors such as isoxaflutole.

APHIS prepared a draft plant pest risk assessment (PPRA), draft environmental assessment (EA), preliminary finding of no significant impact (FONSI), and a preliminary determination of nonregulated status. These documents were available for a 30-day public review and comment period on June 7, 2018. After considering the public comments, APHIS has determined it is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk and is deregulating this variety of GE cotton.

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), APHIS conducted a thorough review of the potential environmental impacts and prepared a final EA, and concluded in its final PPRA that this variety of GE cotton is unlikely to pose a plant pest risk to agricultural crops or other plants in the United States.

For more details, read the news article from USDA APHIS.