BASEL, SWITZERLAND — Syngenta on Dec. 22 said it has received the safety certificate from China’s regulatory authorities for Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera trait (event MIR162), a bioengineered/genetically modified corn trait that is the subject of several lawsuits, including those filed by Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland Co.

China, through the safety certificate, formally granted import approval for Viptera. It covers corn grain and processing byproducts such as dried distiller’s grains (DDGs) for food and feed use.

Agrisure Viptera was approved for cultivation in the United States in 2010. Basel-based Syngenta submitted an import approval dossier to Chinese authorities in March 2010.

When Viptera corn became commingled with other corn imported to China, which the country had yet to approve, China in 2013 began rejecting other corn grown in the United States.

Minneapolis-based Cargill on Sept. 12, 2014, filed a lawsuit in a Louisiana state court against Syngenta Seeds, Inc., claiming the Chinese rejections led to damages to Cargill of more than $90 million.

Chicago-based ADM on Nov. 19 of this year filed a similar lawsuit in the 29th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Charles in Louisiana. ADM said the Chinese rejections led to losses of tens of millions of dollars to ADM.