Invitation: Online launch event and discussion of a new study

Double Standards and Hazardous Pesticides from Bayer and BASF
A glimpse behind the scenes of the international trade in pesticide active ingredients

Presentation of the study and discussion with
Peter Clausing (PAN Germany), Wiebke Beushausen (INKOTA-netzwerk, Germany), Colette Solomon (Women on Farms, South Africa), and Irma Gómez (Alianza Maya por las Abejas, Mexico), Moderation: Jan Urhahn (Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Southern Africa)

When: Tuesday, 27 April 2021, 18:30 to 20:00 (CEST)

Where and how: The event will take place as an online discussion via Zoom providing simultaneous interpretation (English / German).

Registration: https://inkota-de.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BSHBOtBIS0Gw-clRP2fh7w

The agrochemical companies Bayer and BASF continue to market pesticides and active ingredients in the Global South that are not approved or even banned in the EU due to the risks they pose to the environment or human health. Such business practices are legal, but increasingly criticized as double standards.

The Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, the INKOTA-netzwerk, and PAN Germany have taken a glimpse behind the scenes of the international trade in pesticide active ingredients, focusing on the two German agrochemical giants, Bayer and BASF. The new study sheds light on the use of Bayer and BASF active ingredients in Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa, and the harm these chemicals bring with them.

The list of active ingredients highly hazardous to human health that have found their way around the world through Bayer and BASF is long. Terms like glufosinate, spirodiclofen, and (beta-)cyfluthrin conceal concrete hazards: they are highly toxic, probably carcinogenic or mutagenic.

The study reveals which highly hazardous active ingredients were developed and/or marketed by these two German agrochemical corporations. They are still marketed by them in some cases even today, albeit sometimes in a hidden manner. This in-depth analysis of the pesticides and active ingredients markets in South Africa, Brazil and Mexico reveals the extent and non-transparency of the lucrative business with hazardous pesticides. This contrasts with the devastating effects of pesticide use on the health of indigenous people and farmworkers in the three countries.

The authors and activists will present the results of the study and discuss further questions in an open format.

A joint event by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, the INKOTA-netzwerk, and PAN Germany.