Ashley Milano  |  September 3, 2015

Category: Consumer News

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Hundreds of Syngenta GMO corn lawsuits have been filed nationwide claiming Syngenta knew, or should have known, that its genetically modified Viptera corn seed (Agrisure Viptera or MIR162) and Duracade corn seed would contaminate U.S. corn shipments and prevent the corn from being sold to export markets, particularly China.

Among other accusations, Syngenta lawsuits raise concern that Viptera has contaminated the U.S. corn supply chain.

Engineered by Syngenta, a Swiss agribusiness with operations in 90 countries, the MIR162 corn trait makes plants resistant to a number of corn pests such as cutworm. Viptera was sold to U.S. commercial growers in 2011, soon after it was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This strain of GMO corn seed has been planted in approximately 2.8 million acres of corn fields nationwide.

China Viptera Approval

Contrary to claims made by Syngenta to farmers and others in the agri-business, China did not grant regulatory approval to MIR162.  China found a genetic trait in Viptera and refused to accept further shipments.

This caused a surplus in the market and the price of corn fell by 85 percent in 2014. The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) estimates the economic losses to the industry to be $2.9 billion.

The United States is the largest corn producer in the world and the Chinese have historically imported corn almost exclusively from the American Midwest. According to the NGFA, “the Chinese zero tolerance for unapproved biotech events” effectively shut the U.S. out of the Chinese feed grain import market. China instead turned to the Ukraine, Argentina and Brazil as a sources of corn.

Almost three years after the release of Viptera corn, China finally gave its approval for the importation of MIR162. But that has proved to be too late for many U.S. farmers and corn industry stakeholders as they are still reeling from the delayed China Viptera approval.

Meanwhile, Syngenta has released another bio-engineered corn known as Agrisure Duracade, again well in advance of approval by China. The NFGA believes this is shaping up to be another economic fiasco for the corn industry and anticipates it will cost farmers, grain handlers and industry stakeholders well over $3 billion in the upcoming season.

Syngenta Corn Lawsuits

Syngenta has been accused of financially impacting both farmers who purchased Viptera and Duracade and also farmers who did not plant its GMO corn. According to the NFGA, farmers, distributors and exporters suffered billions in losses as a result of Viptera corn and Duracade corn between November and August of 2013 alone.

More than 1,500 farmers as of June had filed Syngenta lawsuits in state and federal courts filed in federal court. As of December 2014, lawsuits against Syngenta have been centralized into multidistrict litigation known as In Re: Syngenta Ag MIR162 Corn Litigation, MDL No. 2591 in the District of Kansas.

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