January 2006:  Riceland Foods (“Riceland”) a producer-owned cooperative based in Stuttgart, Arkansas first becomes aware of the contamination of conventional long-grain rice with LLRICE 601.

August 17, 2006:  One day prior to the public disclosure of the contamination of the U.S. rice supply with LLRICE 601, Bayer CropScience files its petition with the USDA to deregulate LLRICE 601 – despite previously asserting that neither Bayer CropScience nor its predecessors sought deregulation and commercialization of LLRICE 601.  Bayer CropScience has never sought deregulation of LLRICE 604. 

To read a copy of Bayer CropScience’s LLRICE 601 deregulation petition, click here.

 

August 18, 2006:  U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns (head of the USDA), announced that unapproved genetically-modified rice had been found in supplies destined for human consumption and export.  Specifically, the USDA announced that Bayer CropScience had notified the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration that trace amounts of LLRICE 601 had been detected in samples taken from commercial long-grain rice. 

To read a copy of the USDA’s press release, click here

August 18, 2006:  Riceland issues its “Statement Regarding Genetically Engineered Material in Rice,” disclosing that rice samples from its five-state rice growing region – Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas – had tested positive for LLRICE 601, and that it first became aware of that contamination in January 2006. 

To read a copy of Riceland’s press release, click here
 

August 18, 2006:  Prices of long-grain rice futures contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Trade begin to decline.

August 20, 2006:  Japan bans all U.S. long-grain rice imports.

August 23, 2006:  The European Union (“EU”) announces that it would not accept further shipments of long-grain rice from the U.S. unless the rice is tested and certified to be free of genetically-modified grains.  Under the EU’s regulations, promulgated as a direct result of the LLRICE 601 contamination, U.S. rice exporters must expressly certify that their rice shipments are free from the contamination by Bayer’s genetically-modified rice seed traits. 

To read a copy of the EU’s press release statement, click here
 

August 28, 2006:  The first lawsuits filed by rice producers against Bayer CropScience LP and other defendants.  Additional cases are filed by several law firms throughout the fall and winter of 2006. 

August 31, 2006:  LLRICE 601 is found in the seed of Cheniere rice, a popular and high-yielding long-grain variety planted throughout the southern United States. 

For a copy of this announcement, click here.

September 11, 2006:  Reuters reports that LLRICE 601 was found in the EU’s retail food sector.  A Chief Executive of a German mill suspected to have sold the contaminated rice reportedly stated that this problem was not unique to his mill but, rather, was “a problem affecting every rice mill in Europe which has imported U.S. rice.”

September 12, 2006:  The Associated Press reports that tests by the European Commission on three barges containing rice from the United States had revealed the shipments to contain LLRICE 601.  EU officials stated that consignments found to contain illegal strains either were being destroyed or returned to the United States.  That same day, the Associated Press also reported that the largest supermarket chain in Switzerland had blocked the sale of U.S. long-grain rice after traces of LLRICE 601 were found.

September 12, 2006:  The European Commission discloses that that 33 of 162 samples of U.S. rice imports tested by European rice millers contained illegal genetically-altered strains and had been recalled or withheld from the market.

September 21, 2006:  Motion to Consolidate and Transfer Cases Under 28 U.S. C. §1407 filed before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Briefing ensues amongst several parties before the Multidistrict Panel.

November 14, 2006:  Approximately three months after the public disclosure of Bayer’s contamination of the U.S. rice supply with LLRICE 601, the Arkansas State Plant Board’s Seed Committee unanimously recommends that the State of Arkansas ban the planting of Cheniere rice in 2007. 

November 24, 2006:  USDA deregulates LLRICE 601. 

To read a copy of the USDA’s deregulation order, click here

November 30, 2006:   Hearing before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation regarding the proper forum for the rice producer cases.

December 4, 2006:  Russia halts imports of U.S. rice.

December 19, 2006:  Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation orders that all of the rice-related cases pending in federal courts against Bayer and other defendants be transferred and coordinated or consolidated before Judge Catherine D. Perry in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. 

For a copy of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation’s Order, click here

December 28, 2006:  The Arkansas State Plant Board passes new regulations banning the planting of Cheniere rice in the state in 2007 and 2008, and requiring testing of all seed for the LLRICE trait at the 0.01% level (i.e., one grain out of every 10,000).  This ban – directly caused by Bayer’s conduct – left rice producers with the unenviable choice of planting less desirable rice varieties or planting less profitable crops on their land.  Similar prohibitions were adopted throughout the rice belt, with substantially similar effects and results.

January 2007:  Independent testing by the Arkansas State Plant Board indicates that CL 131 rice seed – a non-genetically-modified rice seed created and marketed by BASF and designed to combat “red rice” weed problems – tested positive for contamination by an unapproved genetically-modified rice seed trait, which was discovered to be  Bayer’s LLRICE 604 genetically-modified seed trait.  The non-genetically-modified, herbicide-tolerant rice trait found in CL 131 was created and developed by BASF Ag Products.  BASF first registered this trait with the USDA in 2001 and fully released it for production and commercial sale in 2002.  CL 131 is designed to resist and control red rice, a weed that poses a substantial threat to U.S.  rice producers.   By 2006, CL 131 comprised approximately 34% of all rice planted in Louisiana.

January 8, 2007:  Judge Perry issues an initial Order acknowledging that the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has ordered that several cases in multiple states be transferred to her Court for coordinated pretrial proceedings, and orders that pending further order of the court, all deadlines for responding to pleadings, motions, or discovery requests are held in abeyance, and no further discovery shall be initiated.

To see a copy of that Order, click here

January 26, 2007:  Disclosure that Bayer had further contaminated the U.S. rice seed supply with its LLRICE 604 genetically-modified rice seed trait – a regulated rice trait that was not approved for commercial use or dissemination at any time.

March 2007:  Following the Arkansas State Plant Board’s CL 131 contamination findings, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA (“APHIS”) conducts its own tests on CL 131 and confirms that trace levels of genetically-modified material were present in CL 131 rice seed.

March 2007:  Mexico, the largest importer of U.S. rice, detains shipments of U.S. rice at the border, demanding that the rice be certified to be free of genetically-modified seed.  Throughout this time, other countries institute heightened testing requirements, restrictions, limitations, or bans on U.S. rice. 

To see a chart setting forth these various countries’ actions, click here
 

March 2, 2007:  The Arkansas State Plant Board bans the planting of CL 131 rice seed in the State of Arkansas. 

March 4, 2007:  APHIS issues an Emergency Action Notification (“EAN”) with respect to CL 131 rice seed. 

March 5, 2007:  APHIS issues press release describing the then-indefinite hold being placed on the CL 131 rice that Bayer had contaminated with LLRICE. 

To see a copy of the press release, click here

March 9, 2007:  APHIS issues an update to its prior CL 131 announcement, confirms the presence of unapproved genetically-modified materials therein, and prohibits further distribution or planting of 2005, 2006, or 2007 CL 131 rice seed.  APHIS further requires that the seed be kept separate from other rice seed to prevent any mixing, and that it be kept in a secured area marked “DO NOT SELL OR DISTRIBUTE.” 

To see a copy of APHIS’ statement, click here 

March 22, 2007:  APHIS announces that the genetically-modified material contaminating the CL 131 seed was Bayer’s LLRICE 604 genetically-modified rice seed trait – a regulated seed trait of the same lineage as Bayer’s LLRICE 601 trait, and not approved for commercial use or dissemination of any kind – and reiterates its prohibition on the distribution and planting of CL 131. 

To see APHIS’s announcement, click here   

April 18, 2007:  Judge Perry issues an Order Appointing Leadership Counsel. Terry Luekenhoff is appointed defendants’ lead/liaison counsel.  Don M. Downing and Adam J. Levitt are appointed Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs.  In addition, the Court appoints the following lawyers to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee:  Scott E. Poynter, Richard J. Arsenault, Stephen A. Weiss, Joe R. Whatley, William Chaney, and Ralph E. Chapman.  

To see a copy of the Order Appointing Leadership Counsel, click here

April 18, 2007:  Judge Perry issues her Case Management Order No. 1.  In the Order, Judge Perry changes the title of the case to “In re Genetically Modified Rice Litigation”.  The Order sets forth the following schedule: Plaintiffs file a Consolidated Class Action Complaint no later than May 17, 2007;  Defendants must respond to the Consolidated Class Action Complaint by June 21, 2007.  The court also sets a schedule regarding briefing on any motions to remand cases back to state court, as well as motions regarding personal jurisdiction or service.  Class representatives are ordered to provide completed Plaintiff Fact Sheets (“PFS”) by June 29, 2007, and all other plaintiffs, as well as all defendants, must
serve their initial disclosures by June 29, 2007.  The Court also begins to determine the discovery that will be permitted going forward, and sets a scheduling conference for June 7, 2007. 

To see a copy of the Case Management Order No. 1, click here

May 17, 2007:  Rice Producer Plaintiffs file their Master Consolidated Class Action Complaint. 

To see a copy of the Complaint, click here

June 7, 2007:  Judge Perry issues her Case Management Order No. 3.  The order sets the following deadlines: All plaintiffs named in the Consolidated Complaint must provide defendants with completed PFS’s by June 29, 2007; all producer plaintiffs with cases pending in this Court must provide completed PFS’s by August 6, 2007; Defendants can also select 15 additional producer plaintiffs to produce documents required by the PFS.  Requests for Admissions may be served after the commencement of discovery on July 6, 2007; Defendants must respond to the Consolidated Complaint by June 21, 2007, and must respond to any non producer complaint by July 13, 2007. The Court also issued a partial stay of the Individual Producer Actions. All amendments to the pleadings must be complete by January 15, 2008.  The Court also set forth the procedure for the conducting of depositions, with class and merits depositions beginning on August 20, 2007. There is also a schedule for class certification briefing, and the use of expert witnesses.  Fact discovery will close no later than August 1, 2008. Dispositive motions must be filed by February 6, 2009. 

To see a copy of the Case Management Order No. 3, click here

June 12, 2007:  Jurisdictional discovery commences.

June 21, 2007:  Defendants Answer the Master Consolidated Class Action Complaint. 

To see copies of Defendants’ Answers click these links  Part 1    Part 2     

July 6, 2007:  Merits discovery commences.