International Cotton Advisory Committee Technical Seminar: Biosafety Regulations, Implementation and Consumer Acceptance Regulatory Requirements and Technology Diffusion: The Case of Biotech Cotton by Idah Sithole-Niang and John Komen Technical Advisor and Program Manager, Program for Biosafety Systems Abstract During 2008-2009 the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) reported that 48% of the world cotton area was planted to biotech cotton varieties while 54% of all cotton produced globally were biotech varieties and that 52% of all traded cotton was biotech cotton. The biotech cotton consisted of the two major traits, insect resistance (IR) herbicide tolerance (HT) used singly, or in combination. The countries that grew this cotton represented both developed and developing economies, including two from Africa, South Africa and Burkina Faso. Growing biotech cotton requires biosafety regulatory oversight, and in Africa, there are only 9 countries with functioning regulatory frameworks, of which only 6 have conducted confined field trials. This paper will present the regulatory requirements and technology diffusion of biotech cotton in a few African countries. Introduction Development of transgenic cotton Transgenic cotton, biotech cotton, is developed by introducing a foreign gene using recombinant DNA and transformation technologies. Expression in the plant is driven by a promoter, and the gene is introduced into the cells of a desirable cotton variety using one of following techniques: – Agrobacterium-mediated – Particle bombardment using the gene gun – Pollen tube pathway