Syngenta and plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the company have announced a $1.51 billion settlement to resolve class actions and individual cases regarding Agrisure Viptera.
The cases allege that Syngenta sold its “Agrisure Viptera” and “Agrisure Duracade” corn seeds before it should have because new insect-resistant genetic traits in those seeds had not yet received import approval in China. The lawsuits argued that China rejected shipments of U.S. corn because the genetic traits were not yet approved there, causing the U.S. corn industry to lose access to the Chinese market and resulting in lower corn prices. Syngenta denies that it did anything wrong.
If the United States District Court of the District of Kansas approves the settlement, then Syngenta will pay $1.51 billion into a Settlement Fund to pay corn farmers, grain handling facilities, and ethanol production facilities who submitted eligible claims.
The court will hold a hearing in November to consider whether to approve the settlement.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.