Farmers from the biggest US corn-growing States have sued Syngenta AG over sales of genetically modified corn seed not approved by China, joining global exporters in pursuing damages from the Swiss-based company.
Farmers accused Syngenta of being reckless when it launched U.S. sales of Agrisure Viptera corn seed in 2011 without obtaining import approval from China, a major buyer.
The farmers, who did not plant seed containing the unapproved trait, claimed they suffered losses because the price of US corn dropped when China began rejecting boatloads of crops containing Viptera corn last year.
In April, the National Grain & Feed Association estimated that farmers had lost more than $1 billion due to trade disruptions linked to the rejections. Beijing still has not approved Viptera corn.