Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 14870 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2016 AT THE MOMENT, biotechnology company Syngenta and more than 300,000 plaintiffs are focused on whether or not the company is liable for losses incurred back in 2013 when China stopped accepting shipments of U.S. corn it believed con- tained Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera trait. The lawsuit, which has been allowed to move ahead with class-action status, contends that Syngenta’s neglect in getting Chinese market approval for the insect-control trait caused corn prices to drop that year and asks for significant damages. An application to appeal the class-action ruling, filed by Syngenta, puts the number at $7.02 billion. The plaintiffs in the suit did not necessarily ever grow Agrisure Viptera corn, but they claim that the release of the product before Chinese market approval damaged their profits as the price of corn dropped. As noteworthy as that lawsuit is, there could be long-term implications based on its conclusion. Drew Kershen, professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, suggests that there are serious questions about a seed company’s respon- sibility to the market and whether or not that company might incur significant risk in bringing new traits online. Kershen says biotech companies have agreed not to release seed to growers without getting approval from major markets. Syngenta sought approval from China but never received it. At the time, Kershen says, China imported little corn, but that changed. “If a seed company has an obligation to obtain major market approval for the purposes of protecting the market, then what is a major market?” he asks. “This is a shifting term.” Don Downing, one of the four co-lead counsels for the plain- tiffs in the suit, says receiving market approvals hasn’t been a particularly heavy burden for seed companies. “For responsible seed developers who follow generally accepted protocols in the industry, this should not be and has not been a problem,” says Downing, who is part of the law firm of Gray, Ritter & Graham, P.C., based in St. Louis. “There are all sorts of potential hypotheticals. “But Syngenta knew what they were doing, knew the Chinese market was important, knew that China hadn’t approved the trait, and Syngenta released it anyway. The safest course is not to commercialize it in the U.S. until all important markets have approved it.” That course, however, raises more questions for Kershen. He says China had been asked for approval of the Viptera trait after the U.S. approved it in 2010. Waiting for Chinese approval might have kept a product that Syngenta spent millions to develop off the market for years. “If they are going to take three, four, five years to take action, that, in effect, puts these other countries in charge at a veto power level over what American farmers can grow,” Kershen explains. That could stifle innovation. “There is a real risk that it will slow down, if not stop, the introduction of new traits until you get all these market approvals,” Kershen says. Syngenta will say little until the litigation is settled, but seemed in a statement to echo Kershen’s sentiment. “Syngenta firmly believes that the Viptera China lawsuits should be rejected and that Agrisure Viptera was commercial- ized in full compliance with regulatory and legal requirements,” according to the statement released by Paul Minehart, head of North American corporate communications for Syngenta. “We will continue to defend the rights of American farmers to have access to safe, effective, U.S.-approved agricultural technologies.” More Questions Kershen adds that the lawsuit also raises questions about new molecular breeding technologies. While most biotechnology products are created through rDNA techniques, others like RNAi and CRISPR-Cas, do not yet fall into the same classification. This lawsuit could have implications for how those technologies and their products move into the market. “What this means is that seed companies will have to worry about using these new techniques for breeding because of con- cerns about ‘market impact’ liability,” Kershen says. “Companies may be very reluctant to adopt modern molecular science in breeding programs, depending upon the outcome of the Syngenta litigation.” For now, the lawsuit is winding through the courts. Syngenta has asked 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decision to allow class-action status. A decision could come within weeks. SW More could be on the line for seed companies that release new traits. Brian Wallheimer Syngenta Lawsuit Raises Long-term Questions