As some of you may know, there is ongoing litigation over Syngenta’s s ale and promotion of corn seed containing the MIR 162 (“MIR”) trait, primarily under Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera and Duracade brands (collectively “Viptera”). The MIR trait was not approved by the Chinese government for import prior to Syngenta releasing these corn seed, and China refused, destroyed, and/or impounded (and charging storage fees on) shipments of corn that test positive for the MIR trait. Despite this, Syngenta made public statements around the time that Viptera was going to market that Chinese approval was imminent. Syngenta also encouraged farmers who purchased Viptera corn to plant it “side by side” with nonViptera corn, thereby ensuring that the MIR trait was passed on to nonViptera corn due to crosspollination. Further, harvested Viptera corn was commingled with nonViptera corn causing corn without the MIR trait to also be refused, rejected, and impounded.
Syngenta’s actions caused corn exports to China, set to be one of the top importers of US corn in 2014, to effectively stop. The economic impact of this had a devastating financial impact on exporters, distributors, and farmers of corn. It is estimated that Syngenta’s conduct has caused up to $3,000,000,000.00 in losses to farmers nationwide.
We continue to work and accept these claims on behalf of farmers. If you grew corn during the 2012, 2013, and/or 2014 crop years, we would welcome the opportunity to help submit a claim on your behalf.
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