Syngenta®, an agribusiness that produces seeds, has asked a Kansas federal judge to throw out a mass tort filed by thousands of U.S. farmers, distributors and supply companies who accuse the company of negligently tainting the U.S. corn supply with genetically modified corn seed and causing billions of dollars in losses over rejected crops by China.

Syngenta® has sold genetically modified (GMO) corn seed called Viptera (MIR162) to U.S. farmers since 2011. This GMO corn strain was created to protect the corn against pests like black cutworms and corn earworms, but some members of the corn industry say that the MIR162 strain has had harmful effects.

The Viptera corn strain has not had any reported negative effects from actually eating the corn. In fact, the strain has quickly been approved for sale and consumption in the U.S., and several major U.S. export partners have also approved the Viptera strain corn. There is no indication that the corn is unsafe to eat or sell. The problem lies outside the U.S. corn industry itself.

China Rejects GMO Corn Seed

China, the third largest importer of U.S. corn, reportedly rejected Syngenta® seed from the U.S. because of the Syngenta® MIR162 strain, which has since cut Chinese imports of U.S. corn down by 85%. As a result, this has cost U.S. farmers and corn companies between $1 billion and $3 billion.

Syngenta® seed lawsuits and Viptera lawsuits fault the company itself for selling the GMO seed before it was approved by all major markets for U.S. corn exports, claiming that this bad business decision is directly responsible for the loss of exports to China and thus the loss of billions of dollars in corn exports. They claim that Syngenta® should have predicted the issue, or at the very least chosen to delay selling the new Viptera corn strain until its sale had been approved by all necessary parties.

Syngenta Denies Wrongdoing

In the ongoing Viptera corn litigation, Syngenta® told the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas that, because it is “undisputed” that their product with the Syngenta® MIR162 strain was “fully approved in the U.S.,” they cannot be held liable for distributing a “concededly safe, non-defective product.”

Furthermore, Syngenta® claims that it is not the responsibility of their company to “prevent post-sale injuries by controlling how others in the distribution chain use their safe, non-defective products.”

Syngenta® further claims that China rejected the U.S. corn because of recent bad growing conditions, not their Syngenta® seed.

U.S. Corn Producers Take Legal Action

Multiple plaintiffs from all levels within the corn industry, from farmers to businessmen, counteract this by arguing that Syngenta® should be held responsible for releasing their Viptera strain into the U.S. corn market before it had been approved by China, which ultimately cost the U.S. corn industry billions of dollars.

While Syngenta® argues that their company should not be held responsible for not being able to control China’s actions, plaintiffs do not expect this kind of control, but simply allege that Syngenta® made an extremely harmful mistake in not getting their corn strain approved by China prior to sale to U.S. corn growers. Controlling China would indeed be too much to ask, but according to plaintiffs in this case, Syngenta® should be held accountable for the damage done to the U.S. corn industry as a whole.

If you or someone you know has been negatively affected by Syngenta® MIR162 or declining corn prices, you may be able to join a class action lawsuit investigation.