In a recent lawsuit against Syngenta, a number of agricultural companies and individual farmers from Mississippi are suing the genetically modified (GMO) food company for allegedly selling them unapproved corn seed and causing them massive financial damages.

The plaintiffs are amongst many in the United States who were effected by the Viptera corn scandal, which had not been approved by Chinese import authorities at the time the corn was sold to the plaintiffs.

According to the Syngenta Viptera corn lawsuit, the plaintiffs had grown corn crops with the older Viptera seed in 2013 and 2014 seasons, and had sold the corn crops in 2013, 2014, and 2015.

However, before very recently in 2015, China had not approved a certain strain of Viptera corn for import and that caused severe financial damages to the plaintiffs, along with the entirety of the United States corn market.

Overview of Syngenta Corn Allegations

Viptera corn, also known as MIR162 strain, is a genetically modified corn strain that has stronger in-built internal defenses against corn pests, like black cut worms.

While the Viptera corn was approved in other countries soon after its release in 2011, such as Brazil and Argentina, other countries were not so quick to accept it.

Unfortunately, Syngenta had assumed that their product would be positively received in all international markets when they sold the Viptera corn seed to American farmers.

At this time, they did not tell any American farmers or agricultural companies that China had not approved the corn seed, and that they only filed for import approval in 2010.

China initially rejected the Viptera corn seed, with the country’s health officials wishing to promote a more organic lifestyle. While China just recently accepted the GMO corn, the damage to the American corn market was already done.

China had began rejecting U.S. corn shipments in 2013 that contained the Viptera GMO corn strain, along with other corn shipments the strain could have contaminated.

According to experts, the severe downturn of corn shipments to China has cost American farmers between $1 billion to $3 billion in losses, and is expected to continue for some time.

Before the release of the Viptera corn, China was the third largest importer of U.S. corn shipments at 2.5 million tons per year; in 2014, Chinese corn imports were down by 85 percent, at 375,000 tons.

Many farmers blame Syngenta for selling them an unapproved GMO corn strain, which ultimately resulted in wasted crops and financial damages.

Furthermore, farmers and agricultural companies state that Syngenta knowingly and inappropriately sold them the seeds because the Viptera corn strain was not approved in the major foreign markets for U.S. corn shipments.

The plaintiffs in this lawsuit reiterate these claims, stating that they never would have used the Viptera corn strain if they had known about its approval status. The plaintiffs are ultimately seeking compensatory damages from the defendant, along with any other punitive damages.

This Syngenta Lawsuit is Beckham Brothers, Southfork Inc., etc. v. Syngenta Corporation, Case No. 3:15-cv-00614-CWR-FKB, in the U.S. District Court of Southern Mississippi.