Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
because of the state's statute of limitations, and by arguing that the harm-
ful features of the product or activity were not known to, nor knowable
by, the defendant. In addition, a case may hinge upon state law regarding
the defendant's compliance with all applicable regulations. For example,
state courts differ with regard to whether full regulatory compliance may
be accepted by the court as a repudiation of the claim that the defendant
acted negligently.
Several cases involving GM crops have arisen that resemble the sec-
ond and third scenarios. These have been briefly summarized by Jane
Early for the leading professional association of attorneys.
50
The most
prominent case,
In re Starlink Corn Products Liability Litigation
,dis-
cussed previously, was a third scenario case that grew into a nationwide
“class action,” consolidating claims of economic loss by numerous grow-
ers against the seed maker.
51
According to Early,
The Starlink case arose from the U.S. release of a biotech variety
approved only for use in animal feed (because of its potential aller-
genicity) into the human food system. EPA's approval to commer-
cially plant the Starlink corn for animal feed was conditioned on the
existence of an effective identity-preservation system. Nevertheless,
Starlink was found in taco shells and a range of other foods. After
Starlink was found in the human food chain, U.S. EPA required that
it be completely eliminated (zero tolerance) in the recall. In addi-
tion to paying many hundreds of millions of dollars to actually recall
corn and corn-containing food products, Aventis, the parent com-
pany that now owns Starlink proprietor Aventis Crop Sciences USA,
Inc., agreed to pay $110 million to settle a class action with farm-
ers who claimed the contamination caused a decrease in commodity
corn prices. Thousands of farmers shared in the Starlink class action
50
J. Early,
Potential Grower Liability for Biotech Crops in a Zero-Tolerance World
,
Agricultural Management Committee Newsletter, American Bar Association, v.9, n.1
(2005).
51
Starlink Corn Products Liability Litigation, 212 F.Supp.2d 828 (N.D. Ill. 2002).
