More than 1,500 farmers and companies have filed lawsuits against Syngenta in 11 major corn-growing states over the company’s release of a genetically modified strain of corn before it was approved for export to China, one of the biggest importers of corn in the world.

Hundreds of additional Syngenta corn lawsuits are being prepared across the country.

The lawsuits claim that Syngenta released a GMO corn variety, Agrisure Viptera (MIR162), in 2009 before it was approved for export to China while misinforming those involved (from farmers to exporters to grain elevator operators) that Chinese regulatory approval was imminent.

Syngenta Corn Lawsuit Claims

Farmers have been filing Syngenta lawsuits because of losses they reported suffering due to resulting financial damage to the corn market after China refused to accept corn imports for a strain it had not approved.

Syngenta modified its Agrisure Viptera corn with the MIR162 trait to make it resistant corn pests such as ear worms. Syngenta submitted a request for approval to China in 2010, according to court documents.

While waiting for China’s approval, Syngenta created a second generation GMO corn hybrid called “Duracade,” which “extended the damage” to the U.S. corn shipment, the Syngenta GMO corn lawsuits state. After discovering the corn was tainted with the GMO corn trait, China began rejecting U.S. corn shipments in November 2013.

In December 2014, Syngenta announced that it had received approval from China’s regulatory authorities to import the hybrid corn. The corn industry, however, was suffering significant financial losses while waiting for China Viptera approval, the Syngenta lawsuits state.

The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA), one of two large organizations that promote U.S. grain producers, found that China’s rejection of U.S. corn lowered the corn prices by 11 cents per bushel, which led to a projected loss of $1.14 billion for the last nine months of the marketing year ending on Aug. 31, 2014, according to the Syngenta lawsuits.

The major financial losses due to China’s rejection of U.S. corn led farmers, exporters, grain elevator operators and others in the corn industry to file GMO corn lawsuits against Syngenta.

Due to the growing number of Syngenta lawsuits, a group of plaintiffs requested the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate the Syngenta GMO corn lawsuits for pretrial proceedings. The judicial panel granted the request and centralized the Syngenta lawsuits in the U.S. District Court, District of Kansas.

The Syngenta Corn MDL is In Re: Syngenta AG MIR 162 Corn Litigation, MDL No. 2591 in the U.S. District Court, District of Kansas.