Syngenta Hit with Suit Over Premature Commercialization of Modified Corn

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Montana corn farmers who say they’ve been harmed by Syngenta’s “irresponsible, reprehensible and outrageous behavior” regarding the introduction of “Agrisure Viptera” – which contains the MIR162 genetic trait – before it was approved in all significant export markets. According to the lawsuit, in late 2013, China began rejecting corn shipments from the U.S. that were contaminated with this genetic trait – as it was not yet approved overseas – causing serious economic harm to the corn producers. Although corn farmers urged Syngenta to halt commercialization of Agrisure Viptera, the company continued to sell it and even launched a new product that also contained the same genetic trait, showing “corporate greed at its worst.” The suit also claims that Syngenta misled farmers regarding the importance of the Chinese market, the timing of when the country would approve the new genetic trait (which would be years) and other important information. The complaint went even as far as to allege that Syngenta told the U.S. Department of Agriculture that there would be “no effects” on the U.S. corn export market. The suit hopes to recover compensation for the economic harm the farmers allegedly suffered, as well as punitive damages against the defendant.