SPECIAL FEATURE section of land impacts the organic farmer and his ability to send his crop to market . Where ’ s the coverage ?
You have an insured that has purchased product recall coverage as part of his risk management strategy . By mistake , some of his GE product is mislabeled and sent to market . Will there be a coverage trigger for this sort of event ?
Your insured ’ s GMO crop is alleged to have caused an allergic reaction in some of the people that have ingested it . Is there coverage under the farmer ’ s farm liability coverage ?
The answers will vary depending upon the ( 1 ) type of loss , ( 2 ) cause of loss , ( 3 ) alleged wrong , and ( 4 ) how the coverage was written . There are far too many variables for us to consider in this commentary . Suffice it to say that the above loss scenarios are all considerations to think about when providing risk management strategies for clients .
ISO ENDORSEMENTS TO THE FARM LIABILITY COVERAGE FORM
The Insurance Services Office , Inc . ( ISO ) has published six farm liability , excess , and umbrella endorsements for their licensed users . I want to focus on two of them briefly .
• FL 10 64 04 16 , Exclusion — Injury or Damage From Genetically Modified Beans , Crops , Grains , Seeds , Plants , Shrubs or Trees
• FL 10 65 04 16 , Exclusion — Injury or Damage From Genetically Modified Animal ( s ) or Fish
First , we ’ ll talk about the FL 10 64 04 16 exclusionary endorsements . While it is available to be used , I have yet to see its use . Of course , I do not see what ALL insurers that utilize ISO forms are doing . If one were to come across this in use today , here are some essential items to consider . It is for use with the Farm Liability Coverage Form ( FL 00 20 ) and / or the Personal Liability Endorsement ( FL 04 12 ).
• It states that the insurance does not apply to bodily injury or property damage caused by or resulting from the genetic modification , whether by design or accident , of any bean ( s ), crop ( s ), grain ( s ), seed ( s ), plant ( s ), shrub ( s ), or tree ( s ) described in the Schedule .
• It defines genetic modification to mean “… the insertion of a modified gene or gene from another variety or species into a bean ( s ), crop ( s ), grain ( s ), seed ( s ), plant ( s ), shrub ( s ) or tree ( s ) by ‘ genetic engineering .’”
• It further states that “ genetic modification ” does not include the traditional horticultural practices of plant breeding by methods other than “ genetic engineering ” or plant grafting .
• It defines “ genetic engineering ” as “[ mean ] the use of technology to change the genetic makeup of cells or to move genes across species boundaries .”
The Schedule on the endorsement will be of paramount importance and need to be addressed meticulously . In that schedule , one needs to list the genetically modified bean ( s ), crop ( s ), grain ( s ), seed ( s ), plant ( s ), shrub ( s ), or tree ( s ) to which the exclusion is to apply .
• If the items are not listed on the Schedule , they need to be shown in the Declarations . The FL 10 65 is similar in its approach . Here is what it addresses .
• It is for use with the Farm Liability Coverage Form ( FL 00 20 ) and / or the Personal Liability Endorsement ( FL 04 12 ).
• It states that the insurance does not apply to BI or PD caused by or resulting from the “ genetic modification ,” whether by design or accident , of any animal ( s ) or fish described in the Schedule .
• It defines “ genetic modification ” to mean “… the insertion of a modified gene or gene from another variety of species in an animal ( s ) or fish by ‘ genetic engineering .’”
• It defines “ genetic engineering ” as “[ mean ] the use of technology to change the genetic makeup of
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