13 Biotech rice lawsuits could merge
ST. LOUIS --Thirteen lawsuits over the accidental spread of genetically altered rice could soon be combined into one legal action against Bayer CropScience AG, lawyers representing hundreds of rice farmers said Thursday.
Attorneys told a panel of federal judges in St. Louis that the lawsuits should be tried collectively in front of one judge. But the lawyers mostly disagreed over which state should host the proceedings.
The farmers from Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri allege the rice market was hurt after Bayer's strain of genetically engineered Liberty Link rice was accidentally released from test plots in the United States.
They want Bayer to pay them for lost revenue and to clean up farms and rice bins that might be contaminated with Liberty Link grains.
The incident caused concern in Europe and Japan, two big markets for U.S. rice. Prices dropped after Japan suspended imports of U.S. long-grain rice and the European Union required extensive testing of all U.S. rice shipments.
The Liberty Link rice wasn't approved for human consumption, but tests indicated it somehow found its way into mainstream rice supplies in Missouri and Arkansas. Bayer and federal regulators are investigating how that happened.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture retroactively approved the rice last week. It's unclear how that might affect Japanese and European acceptance of the rice.
St. Louis attorney Don Downing argued Thursday that the 13 lawsuits should be combined and tried in St. Louis federal court.
Downing said judges in the district are familiar with issues in the case because they oversee so many cases filed against Monsanto Co., the St. Louis company that's the world's biggest producer of genetically altered seeds.
Little Rock attorney Scott Poynter said the case should be tried in Arkansas because the state is the biggest rice producer in the United States.
"Whether this case is won or whether it's lost, one thing is sure: The people most affected by this case are going to be Arkansas farmers," Poynter said.
The panel of seven federal judges will now rule whether to combine the suits and decide where they might be heard. Attorneys for the farmers expected the ruling within the next month.
