DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Farmers and farm businesses in 20 states have filed more than 360 lawsuits against agricultural chemicals-maker Syngenta, and hundreds more may be coming as a federal judge in Kansas City coordinates the cases so they can proceed.
The dispute centers around Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera, a corn seed genetically modified to contain a protein that kills corn-eating bugs. China hadn’t approved it for import, and boycotted U.S. corn once Viptera was detected in its grain shipments in 2013.
Farmers who did not plant the seed, grain handlers and exporters claim the boycott cost them money.
Syngenta says it plans to seek dismissal because there’s no legal authority barring the introduction of a U.S. government-approved product simply because it wasn’t approved for sale in a foreign country.
China approved Viptera in December.
