Coalition maintains demand to exclude Bayer from the Global Compact

In a letter of complaint sent to the UN Global compact Office on June 16, the Coalition against Bayer Dangers (CBG), an international network based in Germany, urged the Global Compact to exclude Bayer as a participant. The coalition said that Bayer seriously violates the principles and the Integrity Measures of the Compact. The complaint is based on the aftermath of a fatal explosion at Bayer's US facilities in Institute, West Virginia, in 2008. According to a US Congress investigation, faulty safety systems, significant shortcomings with the emergency procedures and a lack of employee training led to the catastrophe.

On May 12 2009, at Bayer's annual general meeting, Chairman Werner Wenning commented on the accident and said that "Air measurements at the site perimeter showed no evidence of an elevated concentration of hazardous substances in the environment". Mr. Wenning also referred to a comparison made by the Coalition against Bayer Dangers with the Bhopal accident: "any comparison between our modern facility and the one in Bhopal nearly 30 years ago is completely absurd". Mr. Wenning added that the production process in the plants is under constant monitoring of their experts and of the U.S. authorities.

The Global Compact Office responded to the letter of complaint and asked whether the Coalition wanted to raise the matter under the Compact's Integrity Measures. In its response, the Global Compact Office said: "We do not make any judgment about the truth of the allegations made beyond an initial determination that it falls within the scope of the topics covered by the Global Compact's principles. […] the Integrity Measures are not intended to affect, pre-empt or supplant other regulatory or legal procedures or proceedings in any jurisdiction. The role of the Global Compact Office is generally limited to encouraging dialogue between person(s) / organization(s) raising matters and companies. In most situations, the Global Compact Office anticipates that issues will be resolved through dialogue without further involvement of the Global Compact Office."

In a letter sent to the Compact Office in August 2009, Wolfgang Große Entrup, senior vice president of Bayer AG, said that "Unlike with most non-governmental organizations, a constructive dialogue with the local activist group 'Coalition Against Bayer Dangers' [...] has never been possible". In his letter, Mr. Entrup referred to a hearing directed by a sub-committee of the US Congress, which took place in April 2009. The hearing was a result of Bayer being publicly criticized for overly restricting public access to their information. Bayer claimed this issue involves differences in the interpretation of so-called SSI (Security Sensitive Information) provisions.

In a reply dated on the 25th of August, CBG insisted that Bayer's statements are not consistent. CBG refers to a report of the US house Committee which, they argued, contradicts Bayer's statements: "Documents obtained by the committee raise serious questions about the vulnerabilities of Bayer's inventory of methyl isocyanate (MIC) during the 2008 explosion and about MIC monitoring systems that were out of service at the time of the explosion." In a response to that letter, Bayer claimed that it had initiated the process of improving safety and communication in emergencies. Mr. Entrup said that Bayer has a budget of $25 million to invest in further enhancing operational safety at the Institute site. In its second letter to the Global Compact Office, Bayer also said that it will reduce methyl isocyanate (MIC) storage by 80 percent.

Nonetheless, CBG maintains its demand to exclude Bayer from the UN Global Compact due to its "violations of the Compact’s principles in the aftermath of the Institute explosion".