Attorney in Du Quoin to discuss Syngenta case

One or more attorneys who are pursuing what's known as a "mass tort action" (different than a class action lawsuit) against Syngenta Global will be in Du Quoin next Thursday, June 17 at 8:30 a.m. to meet with area farmers harmed by growing and selling Syngenta's genetically engineered corn.

The meeting will be held at BJ's Garden Inn at 11 West Main Street in downtown Du Quoin.

A financial settlement for farmers of between $1 and $1.50 per bushel of Syngenta corn grown in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 is at stake and the meeting is being held to show local farmers how to become a participant in the litigation. There is a one-page agreement necessary to become a participant in the action, which will be available. You also must provide simple documentation of your seed purchase and sale of the corn to a grain elevator.

In 2009, European-based Syngenta released a genetically engineered corn trait (seed) , MIR162, into the U.S. market. Its first generation of MIR162 corn was known as Agrisure Viptera. Agrisure varieties have been genetically engineered to protect corn against damage from insects such as the corn borer and corn rootworm.

Viptera was marketed and introduced to the U.S. market without import approval from China secured. Despite this, Syngenta maintained that approval was imminent. In April 2012, Syngenta's CEO stated, "On the import approval, it has import approval in all of the major markets. There isn't outstanding approval for China, which we expect to have quite frankly within the matter of a couple of days." However, import approval was not ultimately granted until December 2014.

Without approval of the new corn trait, China destroyed multiple shipments of genetically modified corn from the U.S. At least one media outlet reported that several large shipments were destroyed by the Chinese government.

Subsequently, in November 2013, China, one of the world's largest corn importers, began rejecting U.S. corn shipments because they contained a genetically modified variety that has not been approved. The discovery of Syngenta AG's Agrisure Viptera corn in the shipment dragged on global prices and, by the end of 2013, over 545,000 tons of U.S. corn had been rejected by China.

By April 2014, the rejected corn tonnage had reached 1,450,000. China was not the only country that rejected this GMO corn. 3.3 million metric tons of U.S. corn were rejected globally as of March 2014. The export market disruptions with

China cost U.S. farmers billions of dollars. More importantly, more than 30% of America's export partners have banned genetically modified crops.