CHICAGO, Ill. — China’s decision to accept genetically modified (GMO) MIR corn imports from the United States after a nearly two-year hiatus does not affect the status of the class action lawsuit filed by several Midwest corn growers, grain elevator operators and exporters claiming economic damages.

“Nothing at all happens to the lawsuit now,” noted co-counsel Adam Levitt, of the Chicago legal firm of Grant & Eisenhofer P.A., which filed the complaint in the Northern District Federal Court in Chicago on Oct. 6, naming Syngenta Corp. of Wilmington, Del., as the defendant.

“It still goes on full force because, even if the damages ultimately stop on a going-forward basis, you can’t un-ring that bell. The market loss that U.S. farmers suffered is real and has already happened.

“Also, until the reputational law comes back, there’s still going to be an overhang, so I think the damages are still being incurred. I think eventually the damages will ultimately come out of the system. It’s just a question of when.”

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced in mid-December that China will begin approving imports of GMO corn developed by Syngenta. Levitt, lead counsel in the two largest crop contamination cases in the nation’s history, noted the plaintiffs in the current case contend Syngenta’s release of the GMO corn in the United States caused domestic corn to be effectively excluded from China.

“Since late 2013,” according to Levitt, “China has stopped importing U.S. corn upon detection of Syngenta’s genetically modified seed in shipments, although recent news indicates China will reverse this stance.” He also stated any change in China’s policy with respect to Syngenta’s MIR162 will have various effects on the forward progress of these lawsuits.

Meanwhile, he said, nine similar class action complaints and one non-class action case pending against Syngenta in nine different federal district courts were transferred to one judge, Judge John Lungstrum of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. All involve Syngenta’s alleged commercialization of MIR162, subsequent closure of the U.S. corn export market to China and misrepresentation of the timetable for the Chinese Farm Ministry’s approval of the genetic MIR162 trait.

Levitt did not know when the shipments would begin. “Announcements started coming in (two weeks ago) that China was going to start accepting MIR corn, including MIR162 corn. The restriction that resulted in the shutdown of the nation’s MIR imports into China as a result of the MIR162 problem would seem to be ending at some point there,” he said.

A news release issued by Syngenta News in Basel, Switzerland, on Dec. 22 noted the company has received the safety certificate for its Agrisure Viptera trait (MIR162) from China’s regulatory authorities, formally granting import approval. The approval covers corn grain and processing byproducts including dried distillers grains for food and feed use. The application for approval was submitted to China by Syngenta in March 2010, according to the company.

Levitt did not have an answer as to why China would begin accepting MIR corn from the United States. “I think if that question were opened, you’re going to need an answer from the Chinese government,” he said.

Also, he hasn’t seen when or the way that shipping to China “is going to ultimately play itself out; but if there aren’t any restrictions, I would think that could happen sooner than later.”

Obviously, what people need to understand is just because China is accepting MIR corn now does not mean the corn markets have not been lost in some way, or there still are not ongoing reputational damages as well, he said.

“The fact is, when China stopped  buying U.S. corn and began buying it from elsewhere – for example, the Ukraine saw an increase, and things like that – so when a market is lost, we saw that in other litigation as well, it doesn’t come back in an instant.”

Levitt noted the United States does not have millions of bushels of corn in storage awaiting China’s acceptance. “Even if we did, it’s not like China will say, ‘Well, because we haven’t bought X number of bushels from you the past few months, we have capacity to buy that much from you right now.’ On the contrary, China’s gone elsewhere and bought from hundreds of other suppliers.”

He did not have an answer as to whether the amount of grain other suppliers sold China was sufficient to satisfy that nation’s needs. Additionally, he knows of no restrictions placed by China on the MIR corn imports from the United States at this point, although it is possible China could do so. Also, the United States has placed no restrictions of which he is aware.

“The farmers so far, are cautiously optimistic,” Levitt said. “Obviously, it’s not the first time a multinational buyer has taken steps that have hurt the U.S. farmers. Also, obviously, anytime a market that was shut down opens up, farmers will react favorably.

“At the same time, my clients and others acknowledge the damages are there and they want to seek recourse for the damages that they believe were caused by wrongful conduct.”

The initial hearing in the lawsuit before Lungstrum is scheduled for Jan. 21. Levitt says his firm is “doing a lot of work preparing for it.” There are many preliminary issues to be dealt with at the hearing, which means the next move in the complaint depends on what happens at the preliminary hearing, he noted.

Farmers with questions or wish to discuss any aspect of the case with Levitt, are welcome to contact him at 312-214-0000 or by email at alevitt@gelaw.com