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Syngenta Ordered to Pay $217 Million to in GMO Corn Case
USAgNet - 06/26/2017

A U.S. jury on Friday ordered Syngenta AG to pay $217.7 million to more than 7,000 Kansas farmers over its decision to commercialize a genetically modified strain of corn before China approved importing it. The verdict by a federal jury in Kansas City, Kansas, was announced by lawyers for the farmers, who blamed the Swiss company for causing catastrophic damage to them after Chinese officials began refusing U.S. corn shipments in 2013.

According to Reuters, their case was the first to go to trial. Thousands of other corn producers and traders also are seeking damages over China's non-approval of the agrochemical giant's corn seeds for importation.

Lawyers for the corn producers said in a statement that the verdict was "only the beginning." They have claimed that damages for farmers nationally totaled $5.77 billion, according to court papers.

In 2010, Syngenta began selling in the United States a strain of insect-resistant genetically modified corn called Agrisure Viptera. It started selling a second strain called Agrisure Duracade in 2013.

Syngenta said it will appeal the verdict, which included only compensatory damages and no punitive damages.


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