Coalition against BAYER-Dangers will organize a demonstration at Bayer´s Annual Shareholder Meeting taking place on April 27th in Cologne/Germany. Coalition against BAYER-Dangers will submit counter-motions concerning Bayer´s activities in the fields of genetic engineering, sales of hazardous pesticides worldwide and the company´s infringement of a wide range of environmental and safety regulations. We will put our counter-proposals to the board and the shareholders at the meeting with the aim of getting Bayer to engage in constructive discussion of these and other issues.
We invite you to help our efforts by sending us any material you may have on Bayer or indeed by coming along to the meeting personally and, if you wish, putting your opinion on Bayer´s malpractices directly to the shareholders present.
Recent topics to be presented at the meeting:
US: A three-year investigation of price manipulation by American drug companies scored an important victory when the Bayer Corporation agreed to pay $14 million in restitution to the federal government. Bayer settled charges that it had caused doctors and hospitals to submit inflated claims for prescription drugs used by Medicaid patients.
France: Farm Minister Jean Glavany has extended the suspension on the use of Gaucho on sunflower seeds. Glavany called for a full study into the possible causes of a sharp drop in France’s bee population. Honey producers say Gaucho has damaged bee swarms by making plants toxic. According to the National Union of French Beekeepers, the number of hives in France has plummeted to one million from 1.45 million in 1996.
Brazil: Greenpeace sampling results show toxic chemicals slated for ban are being released at Bayer plant in Rio de Janeiro.
US: The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that currently approved uses of fenthion, an organophosphate pesticide produced by Bayer, pose unreasonable risks to human health and the environment. Fenthion is very highly toxic to birds and highly toxic to marine invertebrated. Its use has been implicated in several bird kill incidents.
US: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Bayer Corporation in Baytown, TX, for safety and health violations with penalties, totaling $135,900. The OSHA investigation began after a contract worker notified OSHA of a Methylenedianiline (MDA – a regulated carcinogen) spill and clean up, and the subsequent exposures.