Two Iowa corn farmers have filed a lawsuit against Syngenta Corp. and its related companies over the allegedly premature release of Viptera corn seed onto the market.

The plaintiffs and corn farmers, Jari and Robert B., say that they incurred financial losses after Syngenta released a new variety of corn onto the market prior to securing import approval from Chinese authorities.

The corn farmers say the subsequent rejection of Viptera corn by Chinese authorities led to a drop in the price of corn that spread financial losses throughout the U.S. corn industry.

According to Jari and Robert’s Syngenta lawsuit, Syngenta developed a strain of corn called Viptera that contained a genetically engineered trait known as MIR162.

The MIR162 trait is engineered to result in a corn that resists certain destructive pests like the corn borer and the corn rootworm. Syngenta released Viptera corn into the market after it was deregulated by the USDA in April 2010.

The corn farmers say that Syngenta applied to the Chinese government in March 2010 for import approval for Viptera corn. The Chinese did not issue that approval right away, however. Years went by while the application remained pending, and Syngenta continued to sell Viptera in the U.S.

Jari and Robert say that even though very few U.S. farmers planted Viptera after it was first released, the entire U.S. corn supply was tainted with it. This they attribute to the nature of the corn market, which allows corn from different sources to commingle with each other vey quickly.

Therefore, once Syngenta released Viptera onto the market, it was practically certain to end up in U.S. corn exported to China.

In November 2013, with Syngenta’s application for import approval still pending, Chinese inspectors discovered traces of Viptera in a shipment of corn from the U.S.

China responded by banning all imports of U.S. corn from then until December 2014, when it finally approved Syngenta’s application for import approval for Viptera.

China maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards contaminated corn imports, and Jari and Robert say Syngenta was aware of that policy when it released Viptera onto the market.

China Bans Syngenta Viptera Corn

The Chinese Viptera ban resulted in the loss of what the plaintiffs identify as the third-largest export market for U.S. corn. During the ban, the domestic price of U.S. corn dropped significantly, they say.

They cite a report by the National Grain and Feed Association that projected a loss of $1.14 billion for just the last nine months of 2014 attributable to the Chinese ban.

The plaintiffs say that during the first few growing seasons with Viptera on the market, Syngenta had misled the industry and the general public to believe that Chinese import approval for Viptera was imminent, and that in any case the lack of import approval would have no effect on the price of corn.

Additionally the farmers allege that even while Syngenta made these assurances repeatedly, they knew Chinese authorities were nowhere near close to approving Viptera. Yet growers continued to rely on these statements in choosing to plant Viptera corn, the plaintiffs say.

The Syngenta GMO Corn Lawsuit is Case. No. 5:15-cv-4091-MWB, U.S. District Court for the District of Iowa.