Development organizations accuse Bayer and BASF of selling pesticides in South Africa and Brazil that are not approved in the EU. In Brazil, both agrochemical companies each marketed at least twelve active ingredients without current EU approval, in South Africa there were seven cases at Bayer and four at BASF, according to a study. The survey was published today by the German aid organization Miseror, the INKOTA network and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
„Human rights due diligence“
Seven of the active ingredients distributed in both countries are „explicitly prohibited due to environmental and health risks“, the development organizations said. They criticized that the corporations are violating their „human rights due diligence“ by exporting highly toxic pesticides such as carbendazim, chlorfenapyr and saflufenacil.
According to the study authors, they documented cases in which indigenous residents of Brazil and agricultural workers in South Africa „have suffered severe poisoning and other illnesses from products from Bayer and BASF“.
Protective equipment is missing
The companies knew „that the safe use of highly toxic pesticides in South Africa is a myth“ because, for example, the necessary protective equipment is missing, criticized Jan Urhahn, agricultural expert at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. In Brazil, villagers were injured by spraying over a field by plane.
The organizations called on the German Ministry of Agriculture to ban the export of pesticides not authorized in the EU to third countries. The Plant Protection Products Act offers the necessary scope for this.
