Dynamic Accident Lawyers: Farming News: Corn Producers Don’t Want Syngenta Bellwether Cases Dismissed

Though academic and commercial research has established the safety of transgenic crops in general, country-to-country approval varies and has created an international controversy and Syngenta lawsuits.

Currently, a group of 48 Syngenta lawsuits are preparing to go to trial together in a multi district litigation, or MDL.

MDLs are a process courts used to coordinate similar lawsuits in order to help streamline the legal process when similar legal actions have been filed across the country.

One of the earliest stages of an MDL is when bellwether lawsuits are tried. Currently, 48 Syngenta lawsuits from eight states have been selected as bellwether cases — though the makers of Syngenta corn have filed a motion that could complicate this step of the process.

Syngenta has filed a motion to strike 15 of the Syngenta lawsuits from the bellwether cases. The plaintiffs have opposed this motion on the grounds that it could create prejudice in the minds of the courts.

Thousands of Syngenta lawsuits have been filed by farmers. The Syngenta lawsuits have dominated farming news during 2015. The lawyers for the plaintiffs have argued that Syngenta is trying to skew the bellwether cases towards smaller farms.

Farm industry news covered the Syngenta lawsuits because of their far-reaching implications. The way corn is farmed in the United States, it is impossible to separate Syngenta corn from the larger corn supply, as the corn is comingled at depots before export. Corn is also cross pollinated, causing traits to spread.

Though the FDA found Syngenta’s Viptera strain of GMO corn safe and approved it in 2010, China did not approve it until late 2013, too late for that year’s crop. As such, the United States could not export its corn out, leading to a massive glut on the U.S. market, decreasing the value of U.S. corn and allegedly costing farmers money.

Syngenta lawsuits allege that the company promoted the use of their Viptera corn before China had approved it, leading to a depression in the U.S. corn market and financial losses for many U.S. farmers and corn industry stakeholders.

Syngenta lawsuits allege that the company misrepresented China Viptera approval to farmers to get them to purchase their corn seeds.

The Syngenta Viptera Controversy

Viptera corn consists of a genetically modified corn trait known as MIR162, which is a transgenic corn owned by Syngenta. The genes in Viptera corn make the corn produce chemicals that make it resistant to insects, making it easier to grow more crops. The exact compounds produced by MIR162 corn make the corn toxic to corn pests that normally feed on the crop, but it is harmless to humans.

Unfortunately, since China did not approve MIR162 in time for the 2013 crop. Farmers allegedly lost billions of dollars that year since China would not accept U.S. corn due to cross contamination.

Larger agricultural companies in the farm industry, as well as individual farmers who grew MIR162 corn have all field Syngenta lawsuits claiming millions of dollars in alleged losses.

In response to the Syngenta lawsuits, the company issued a statement that the Viptera lawsuits are without merit. In the statement, Syngenta asserted that the company had followed all legal requirements and “obtained import approval from major corn importing companies.” The statement also asserted the benefits of MIR162 corn.

The outcome of the Syngenta lawsuits will most likely be the big Ag news of 2016.

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