Syngenta faces second lawsuit over GMO corn
Date:09-17-2014
A second company has sued Syngenta over sales of genetically modified corn seed not approved by China, raising the stakes for the Swiss-based seed maker by including byproducts used for animal feed in its complaint and seeking class-action status.
Trans Coastal Supply Co, a major exporter of livestock feed products, said in court documents it expects to lose more than $41 million because Syngenta sold Agrisure Viptera corn seed, known as MIR 162, to U.S. farmers without first obtaining import approval from Beijing.
The majority of Illinois-based Trans Coastal's losses are related to exports of an ethanol byproduct called distillers dried grains (DDGs), used in livestock feed, according to court documents filed on Friday in federal court in Urbana, Ill.