Many Iowa farmers are filing GMO corn lawsuits or joining GMO corn class action lawsuits against Syngenta Corp., claiming the corn seed manufacturer and distributor of Viptera corn should have gotten China’s approval before promoting the genetically modified corn seed to U.S. farmers.

Iowa is the leading corn producer in the nation, and the home of numerous farmers pursuing claims against Syngenta for costing the U.S. corn market billions of dollars in losses when China rejected 1 million tons of American corn because of the lack of Viptera approval.

A number of legal representatives from Iowa, as well as Nebraska, are involved inSyngenta class action lawsuits, discussing with at least two groups of farmers their rights and possible legal claims.

A federal court in Kansas City is attempting to organize a Syngenta multidistrict litigation. However, according to several attorneys, some individual Syngenta lawsuits and Syngenta class action lawsuits in state and federal courts may prove to be more prominent than the proposed MDL.

Because Syngenta’s U.S. headquarters are in Minnesota, it is expected that numerous Minnesota farmers will sue the company in their state’s court system and under Minnesota state laws.

Background on Syngenta GMO Corn

Beginning in 2011, Syngenta Corp. began marketing its Viptera GMO corn (which contains the MIR 162 genetically modified trait) to countless farmers across the United States. Although the Viptera corn seed was approved in the United States, China and several other nations that import U.S. corn had not yet given approval to this GMO corn trait when Syngenta began marketing it.

When China tested a U.S. corn shipment and discovered the presence of the MIR162 corn seed in November 2013, it rejected the large shipment and has since rejected all U.S. corn imports.

China finally gave approval to Syngenta’s Viptera corn seed in 2014. However, corn trade between the United States and China has not yet resumed.

Because of the initial rejection of corn shipments and the continued lack of corn trade between China and the United States, many farmers and farming companies have filed Syngenta GMO corn lawsuits. These Syngenta lawsuits allege that the loss of the Chinese export market created a severe U.S. corn market loss and also resulted in heavy economic damages for  corn farmers.

Syngenta Corn Lawsuits

According to Syngenta corn lawsuits, the loss of China as a U.S. corn exporter has decreased the demand for U.S. corn around the globe, which in turn caused a drop in the U.S. corn market price for all corn seed types and varieties. In short, even if a farmer did not grow Viptera corn seed specifically, they may be eligible to file a Syngenta corn lawsuit because  Syngenta’s action allegedly damaged the whole U.S. corn market.

The vast majority of the Syngenta GMO corn lawsuits involve farmers who did not plant Syngenta’s Viptera corn. Over 1,500 Syngenta GMO corn lawsuits have been filed and are awaiting trial.