Two corn farmers filed a lawsuit against the corn seed manufacturer Syngenta alleging that the company prematurely released a genetically modified strain of corn seed, called Viptera, that destroyed the export market to China, hurting corn sales.

Plaintiffs Dennis and Timothy H. of Iowa allege Syngenta failed to disclose the truth to corn farmers, which was that Viptera, also known as MIR162, lacked approval from China, the third largest importer of U.S. corn.

According to the Syngenta lawsuit, misleading statements from the company ended up costing corn farmers billions in overall economic loss.

More than 400,000 U.S. farms grow corn, and while the Syngenta lawsuit alleges that only three percent of those farms planted the GMO corn seeds, because of the commodity-based nature of the corn industry, the contamination was widespread.

Corn farmers Dennis and Timothy claim that once their corn is grown it gets harvested, gathered, commingled, consolidated and shipped to local, regional and terminal distribution centers. After that, the corn is transported by corn exporters to foreign countries.

The Syngenta GMO corn lawsuit alleges that the cross-pollination, along with commingling of Viptera corn with non-Viptera corn in storage and transit, had a huge impact on corn farmers when China announced a zero-tolerance policy on MIR162 corn. The plaintiffs argue that Syngenta knew, or should have known, the impact that China’s ban on Syngenta’s MIR162 would have on corn farmers.

In fact, the Syngenta lawsuit states that in 2014 Syngenta CEO Michael Mack announced in a conference call regarding China’s viptera approval that “I think it is fair to say at this point in time that we don’t have – that we will not have any approval before the start of the season. That’s for sure.”

The plaintiffs state that while Syngenta officials hinted at a lack of Chinese approval to outside investors, they failed to disclose this information to the corn farmers they were selling the seed to.

Impact of GMO Corn Ban

Syngenta’s genetically modified corn seed Viptera was marketed to corn farmers as having a better defense system against common corn pests, including earworms and black cutworms.

Those who have filed Syngenta lawsuits allege that the corn seed company assured U.S. farmers that China’s approval of the GMO corn was imminent.

However, China ended up not approving Viptera and decided to block any corn that showed traces of MIR162. This essentially banned all U.S. corn imports into China due to the commodity-based nature of the corn industry.

Once China banned U.S. corn sales around the world dropped by 85 percent, which reportedly was financially disastrous for U.S. corn farmers.

Currently there are more than 10,000 Syngenta corn lawsuits filed by farmers, corn exporters and corn brokers. In general, plaintiffs claim that Syngenta misled farmers into buying a product that was not fully approved by foreign importers.

The Syngenta Corn Lawsuit is Case No. 5:15-cv-04198-MWB in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Western Division.