Verdict in Basel: Syngenta Judged “Guilty!”
An activist dressed as a judge announces the Berne Declaration’s verdict outside Syngenta’s Swiss headquarters. Photo: Berne Declaration
Poison Pusher: Micheal Pragnell, CEO of Syngenta
Syngenta, a Swiss multinational, makes and promotes many harmful chemicals, including paraquat, a notorious herbicide that has inflicted widespread harm on farmworkers around the world. Chief Executive Michael Pragnell has also been head of Responsible Industry for Sound Environment, an international industry-sponsored group that spends millions to promote pesticide and herbicide poisons as “safe.” Under Pragnell’s leadership, many of Syngenta’s destructive products have continued to hurt people and put the world’s food supply at risk
Every year, the deadly pesticide paraquat kills thousands. The victims range from innocent workers who suffer painful deaths from accidental exposures, to suicidal farmers who swallow the poison to escape lives ruined by debt. In addition, tens of thousands of farmworkers suffer devastating injuries from being forced to use the chemical without adequate safety precautions. There is no antidote for paraquat poisoning.
A PAN “Bad Actor” chemical, paraquat has caused blindness, gastrointestinal illness, and skin damage so severe that transplants are required. To date, 90 organizations from 29 countries have joined an international campaign to ban paraquat.
Paraquat is not approved for use in Switzerland, the home country of Syngenta, the company that makes it. So Syngenta markets this terrible poison throughout the Global South, where countries often lack the resources to enforce strict guidelines for using dangerous chemicals.
On February 8, 2007, Syngenta posted record profits—in part due to its merciless marketing of paraquat. But the chemical giant is not going unchallenged. The same day that Syngenta announced its soaring profits, activists and supporters of paraquat victims released their own report, which found Syngenta “Guilty” of profiteering from poison. Nearly 50,000 people cast votes as part of a global grassroots jury that found Syngenta responsible for poisoning tens of thousands.
On February 8, The Berne Declaration (BD) hosted a protest rally on the doorstep of Syngenta’s Basel headquarters. BD, a Swiss non-governmental organization, monitors the activities of the Swiss government and corporations and holds them accountable for their behavior in the Global South.
At the Basel demonstration, a BD spokesperson proclaimed: “Governments and growers are increasingly aware of the dangers of paraquat and are taking action. Syngenta, however, plays deaf and sadly shows no sense of social responsibility.” Despite Syngenta’s intransigence, “this global alliance will continue to push for a ban on paraquat. Syngenta will have to give in sooner or later. The longer it waits, the more its image will suffer.”
Meanwhile, companies and governments are taking action to cut the pesticide from their production processes and registration lists. The Common Code for the Coffee Community—which controls roughly two-thirds of the world’s coffee production and whose members include Nestlé and Kraft foods—has called for halting the use of paraquat. In France—Europe’s second largest user of paraquat—the government decided last year to halve sales of the product by the end of 2009.
“Even trusted advisors to Syngenta privately recommend that the company disassociate itself from this out-moded and destructive product,” said Monica Moore, Regional Coordinator for Pesticide Action Network North America. “We hope that this new information and verdict from Berne Declaration helps convince Syngenta to do the right thing sooner rather than later to save lives and end the suffering caused by paraquat.”
Resources: The Paraquat Case, www.stop-paraquat.net, “Syngenta: Tidy Profit at the Expense of Pesticide Victims,” Berne Declaration Press Release, February 7, 2007.