Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are hotly debated for a variety of reasons. But with the need to create larger and more robust crops always at a premium, GMOs are big business. Syngenta is one such company based in Switzerland. Today a Kansas federal jury awarded about $218 million to a group of farmers that sued Syngenta over a newly engineered corn seed.
Syngenta vowed to appeal the verdict favoring four Kansas farmers representing roughly 7,300 growers from that state in what served as the first test case of tens of thousands of U.S. lawsuits assailing Syngenta’s decision to introduce its Viptera seed strain to the U.S. market before China approved it for imports.
The Kansas trial and a Minnesota one next month involving about 60,000 cases are to serve as bellwether trials, providing guidance for how the complex web of litigation in state and federal courts could be resolved. Attorneys can see how juries react and determine whether to settle other cases or take them to trial.
The history behind this litigation comes from Successful Farming:
Agrisure Viptera was approved for sale in the U.S. in 2010, with Syngenta selling the seed for planting in the 2011 crop year. It contains the MIR 162 insecticidal trait, a genetically modified trait stack that controls lepidopteran pests like European corn borer, corn earworm, cutworm, and armyworm.
“When farmers began planting it, the Chinese market for U.S. corn exploded,” says Tidgren. In the 2010-2011 marketing year, China imported 979,000 metric tons of corn from the U.S. During 2011-2012, that number increased to 5.2 million metric tons. All went well until November 2013, when China stopped accepting U.S. imports. It argued that U.S. corn contained trace amounts of the then unapproved (by China) Agrisure Viptera trait. (China approved the trait in December 2014.)
Syngenta’s argument was that they sold the specific genetic strain of corn before the Chinese market exploded and as such, didn’t mislead anybody. Today’s decision in Kansas says that this jury didn’t buy what Syngenta was selling. But don’t cry for Syngenta. According to the AP, they’re still big business and only going to get bigger.
The Kansas trial came as ChemChina — a state-owned conglomerate also known as China National Chemical Corp. — is closing in on its $43 billion acquisition of Syngenta. Chinese companies are engaged in a multibillion-dollar global buying spree to acquire technology and brands, a move to improve their competitive edge as explosive growth in their home economy slows.