China finally opens up to Viptera

China finally opens up to Viptera

On December 17, 2014 China finally ended its import ban on Syngenta’s Viptera corn and two varieties of GMO soybeans produced by DuPont Pioneer and Bayer Crop Sciences.

The announcement is cause for great relief to the seed companies and U.S. grain exporters considering U.S. grain trading with China was shut down for all intents and purposes during the ban.  Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, cautioned the approval was not a change in China’s regulatory review process of GMO crops.  Via Reuters.com.  Rather, the delayed approval is another example of China’s consistently inconsistent approval bureaucracy.

Syngenta is not out of the Viptera woods yet.  Numerous lawsuits have been filed against Syngenta in the last year with plaintiffs alleging Sygenta’s release of Viptera before China’s approval caused a dramatic drop in corn prices.  Syngenta Under Pile of Lawsuits  China’s approval will open the trade going forward but will obviously not affect any alleged issues caused by the ban in the past.  Consequently, Syngenta still has a fight on its hands with grain exporters and farmers who were allegedly damaged by the ban.