On 25 April, ECCHR jointly filed a complaint with the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Terra de Direitos, BASE-IS, Fundación TIERRA and Misereor, calling on Bayer AG to make effective changes to its business model in South America. After its 2018 merger with Monsanto, Bayer has become a major force in the global pesticide and seed market, profiting immensely from the expansion of soybean cultivation, particularly in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. The sale of Bayer’s “technology package,” combining toxic glyphosate-based pesticides with genetically modified soy seeds that are resistant to them, brings the company multimillion dollar revenues, while causing severe health problems and ecological devastation in these countries.
The complaint, filed with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), alleges that Bayer is in violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by promoting an agricultural model that leads to food and water shortages, pollution, massive deforestation, biodiversity loss, negative health impacts and land conflicts with indigenous communities. The organizations demand that Bayer implement due diligence policies to adequately address the actual and potential negative impacts of its products on the rights of local communities and the environment.
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