Heninger Garrison Davis Files GMO Corn Class Action Lawsuit Against Syngenta
BIRMINGHAM, ALA (PRWEB) November 07, 2014 -- Heninger Garrison Davis, recognized as one of the nation’s leading litigation firms, has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of corn and DDGS exporters, distributors and farmers against Syngenta over sales of the GMO corn seed Agrisure Viptera MIR 162. MIR 162 is not approved for sale in China. The Foxtrap Planting Co., LLC. vs. Syngenta AG. (No. 3:14-cv-858-TSL-RHW. So. Dist. Miss.) lawsuit claims that Syngenta knew, or should have known, that releasing MIR 162 into the marketplace would lead to the contamination of U.S. corn shipments and prevent U.S. corn from being sold to major export markets such as China. The class action court documents allege that the resulting harm to exporters, distributors and farmers is a significant reduction in revenue due to falling grain prices, governmentally destroyed crops, and a lack of confidence in U.S. sourced corn.
According to the Viptera lawsuit court documents, in November 2013, after Syngenta represented that China would soon approve MIR 162 for import, China began enforcing a zero tolerance policy which banned any corn imports that contained even a trace of Syngenta’s MIR 162. The presence of MIR 162 in many shipments shut U.S. corn farmers out of China’s grain import market, which previously had been almost exclusively supplied by the United States. From November 2013 to March 2014, it is estimated that China has blocked or destroyed over 887,000 tons of MIR 162 GMO corn as well as additional shipments of GMO corn, much of it due to Syngenta’s MIR 162 contaminates.
In an April 2014 report, The National Grain and Feed Association estimated that China’s ban on the Syngenta GMO Corn has cost $2.9 billion in economic losses to the U.S. grain value chain. As a result of China’s enforcement of its ban on any shipment with a trace of MIR 162, its import of U.S. corn has fallen by 85 percent, according to the Syngenta lawsuit court documents, and helped to drive corn prices to a five-year low.
Farmers, grain elevators, grain exporters, and the general public are alleged to have been misinformed by Syngenta about the prospects for Chinese approval of MIR 162 corn, according to court documents. It is believed that rather than waiting for China to approve Viptera corn, Syngenta encouraged farmers to plant the GMO corn to enhance its profit margins at the expense of the U.S. grain industry.
Even if farmers did not plant this type of seed, they may have suffered losses and may be eligible to participate in this GMO corn lawsuit due to falling corn prices and the potential cross-pollination of their crops.
To learn more about the available legal options, our China GMO corn lawyers may be contacted at Heninger Garrison Davis for a free evaluation by calling 1-800-617-CORN or completing an online form at http://www.gmocornlawyer.com.
Heninger Garrison Davis is headquartered in Birmingham with offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, Washington, D.C. and is involved in litigation nationwide. The firm focuses on Business Litigation, Class Actions and Mass Torts, Intellectual Property and Personal Injury. For more information, see http://www.hgdlawfirm.com.
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DISCLAIMER
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
Kristi Ozley, Heninger Garrison Davis, LLC., http://www.hgdlawfirm.com, +1 (800) 617-2676, [email protected]
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