Is Bayer's eco-friendly policy for real?

THE end of the era of cancer-causing chemicals is imminent. Or is it? There are signs that the agrichemicals giant, Bayer AG - facing thousands of lawsuits alleging that its bestselling Roundup weed-killer causes cancer - may manufacture safer products.

The company announced an investment of US$5.6 billion in June 2019 under a reform agenda - obviously under pressure of an avalanche of court cases - to use agricultural chemicals sparingly and to reduce its harmful impact on the environment.

What alarms many consumers is that Bayer does not plan to stop selling Roundup (which its subsidiary Monsanto began marketing in 1974) despite allegations that its active ingredient, glyphosate, causes cancer.

Indeed, Bayer declared that "glyphosate will continue to play an important role in agriculture and in Bayer's portfolio", adding that it "is committed to offering more choices for growers" and implying that it may produce newer products.

The company's plan to conduct research and reduce the impact of chemicals on the one hand, and to continue selling Roundup on the other, is creating an impression that Bayer may be employing a diversionary tactic to influence the ongoing American court trials.

The German chemicals and pharma giant purchased Monsanto for US$63 billion in 2018, and now faces thousands of lawsuits, two of which will be heard in California in January 2020. The court battles signal that the agrichemicals industry may be forced to abandon production of pesticides containing glyphosate.

A DISMAL FUTURE FOR BAYER

While the company waxes eloquent about its social responsibilities, its actions continue to damage the environment and its own financial health. Monsanto worsened its own case by illegally spraying its banned pesticide, Penncap-M, on research crops in Maui and Molokai in Hawaii. Last month, Monsanto pleaded guilty to the offence and agreed to pay US$10.2 million in fines.

The US Department of Justice stated that Monsanto admitted to the offence of using Penncap-M in 2014, even though the company knew that its use was banned after 2013. Monsanto violated the law by telling its employees to work in a risky area only seven days after the spraying, when it knew that 31 days was the required minimum period. The company threatened the environment, surrounding communities, and Monsanto workers by using Penncap-M which is considered an "acute hazardous waste", according to the department.

The revelations forced Bayer to apologise, saying, "we did not live up to our standards or the law", and "we accept responsibility and are deeply sorry".

The latest misdemeanour occurred at a time when Monsanto is battling thousands of lawsuits involving Roundup. Just a month earlier, in October, Bayer declared that it anticipated a "significant surge" in the number of plaintiffs suing the company over the weedkiller.

The future looks dismal for Bayer as American lawyers have escalated their advertisements seeking new clients, offering to represent them in lawsuits against the company. The number of plaintiffs in the US were estimated at 18,400 in July this year, but could increase to more than 26,000 according to JP Morgan Chase analysts, and may eventually rise even higher to more than 42,000.

The financial impact on Bayer has been massive as the company has shed more than US$30 billion in market value after it lost three consecutive trials in the US, which led its shareholders to cast a vote of no confidence against the company. Bayer's market value is now less than what it paid for in purchasing Monsanto.

It is estimated that in order to settle the lawsuits Bayer may have to pay between US$2.5billion and US$20 billion. The majority of the Roundup cancer lawsuits are filed in courts in various US states, and some are consolidated as federal cases in Northern California.

So far, Bayer has lost three lawsuits in the US. In all the cases the plaintiffs alleged that exposure to Roundup caused them to develop Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. The latest case against Monsanto resulted in a US$2.055 billion award in May 2019 to an elderly couple who both developed cancer after exposure to Roundup, but a judge reduced the damages to US$87 million.

The other manufacturers of glyphosate are worried about legal challenges. Chinese-owned agriculture company Syngenta said in July that it faced no lawsuits over glyphosate at present.

The lawsuits may compel Monsanto and the industry to reform their practices. However, more than 750 glyphosate products were on the market as at 2010.

Besides Monsanto, the other major producers of this dangerous chemical are Syngenta, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, and Dupont. Chinese manufacturers are the world's largest producers of glyphosate, accounting for about 30 percent of global exports in 2014, and included Anhui Huaxing Chemical Industry Company, Jiangsu Good Harvest-Weien Agrochemical Company, Nantong Jiangshan Agrochemical & Chemicals Co, Nufarm, SinoHarvest, and Zhejiang Xinan Chemical Industrial Group.

Alarmingly, the Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing and largest regional market for such products, and about half of the total global consumption of glyphosate was for agricultural crops, with forestry comprising another important market in 2012.

NO REAL PROMISE OF CHANGE

There are conflicting reports about Bayer seeking to settle out of court. Some claim that Bayer has offered a US$8 billion deal to settle about 18,000 claims against Roundup. Other reports deny that a settlement offer had ever been made.

Bayer's case is weakened by Monsanto's behaviour as well as by victims' testimonies supported by scientific reports. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization, stated in a 2015 report that the pesticide, which is Roundup's active ingredient, was "probably carcinogenic to humans".

Bayer appears to be confident despite the sheer volume of court cases, claiming in a statement: "The number of plaintiffs is not an indication of the merits of these cases." In many cases the company has adopted a strategy of appealing against the verdicts in US lawcourts. Judges hearing its appeals have reduced the awards but they did not overturn the juries' verdicts.

There is no genuine promise of change because Bayer steadfastly claims glyphosate to be safe to use in farms and backyard gardens. It is apparent that the company acted under the pressure of lawsuits to announce its proposed investment of offering "more choices" to the consumer. It is a welcome but extremely belated move.

Eventually, the fear of lawsuits may force other companies to stop selling harmful chemicals.