Cargill Inc., the grain exporter that’s the largest closely held company in the U.S., sued seed maker Syngenta AG over claims it illegally marketed its Agrisure Viptera corn seed before gaining Chinese import approval.
Cargill’s grain export facilities in Louisiana loaded the ships that were destined for and rejected by China and its corn has contaminated other shipments, leading to $90 million in damages, according to a complaint filed in state court in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana.
“Syngenta has not practiced responsible stewardship,” Mark Stonacek, president for Cargill’s supply chain operations for North America, said in a statement.
“Syngenta also put the ability of U.S. agriculture to serve global markets at risk.”
China rejected U.S. corn imports since last year over the presence of an unapproved trait in Syngenta’s seeds known as MIR 162, “virtually halting U.S. corn trade with China,” Cargill said. U.S. exporters and farmers have lost as much as $2.9 billion because of the uncertain trade environment, Cargill said in its complaint.
Cargill, based in Minneapolis, was forced to cancel contracts with Chinese companies and to redirect shipments to other markets, including Taiwan, Japan and Egypt, the company said in the complaint.
The trait was approved by the U.S. in 2010, Basel, Switzerland-based Syngenta said in a statement responding to the lawsuit.
“Syngenta believes that the lawsuit is without merit and strongly upholds the right of growers to have access to approved new technologies that can increase both their productivity and their profitability,” the company said.
The case is Cargill Inc. v. Syngenta Seeds Inc., 67061, 40th Judicial District Court for Parish of St. John the Baptist, Louisiana.
Bloomberg, edited by ESM
