Global Compact OfficeExecutive Director Georg Kell by e-mail:globalcompact@un.orgAugust 25, 2009

Exclude Bayer AG from Global Compact

Dear Georg Kell,We received Bayer´s reply to the letter we sent to the GC office in June 2009.We do not regard it as helpful that Bayer continues to vilify our group (“

A constructive dialoguewith the local activist group “Coalition Against Bayer Dangers” (CBG), who have written to youin this matter, has never been possible).

Their attitude is similar to the "marginalization approach"towards the People Concerned about MIC group and the Charleston Gazette that led to the judgment of the US House Committee:

"Evidence obtained by the committee demonstrates that Bayer engaged in a campaign of secrecy by withholding critical information from local, county and state emergency responders; by restricting the use of information provided to federal investigators;by undermining news outlets and citizen groups concerned about the dangers posed by Bayer'sactivities; and by providing inaccurate and misleading information to the public."

A democraticapproach would be to face up to criticism instead of to try to defame opponents.Furthermore, none of the grievances documented by the House Committee has been resolved byDr. Wolfgang Große Entrup. Instead he merely repeats some of Bayer´s previous unprovenstatements:

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“Bayer supported the authorities involved in their investigations into the causes of theaccident.” This clearly contradicts the Senate findings cited above.

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“Health, Safety, Environment and Quality (HSEQ) are highly important issues for the Bayer Group. Bayer is a global company with numerous sites and subsidiaries. HSEQmanagement systems have therefore been established to ensure uniformly high health,safety, environmental protection and quality standards. (…) We are convinced that our sites

Advisory Board

Dr. Erika Abczynski / Kinderärztin / DormagenProf. Dr. Jürgen Rochlitz / Chemiker / BurgwaldEva Bulling-Schröter / MdB / Berlin Dr. Janis Schmelzer / Historiker / BerlinWolfram Esche / Rechtsanwalt / Köln Prof. Dr. Anton Schneider / Baubiologe / NeubeuernProf. Jürgen Junginger / Designer / KrefeldDorothee Sölle / Theologin / Hamburg (gest. 2003)Dr. Sigrid Müller / Pharmakologin / Bremen

Coalition against BAYER DangersLetter to UN Global Compactwww.CBGnetwork.orgAug 25, 2009

are operated on highest safety standard and our employees have been trained appropriately.”This contrasts with the findings of the

US Occupational Safety and Health Administration

(OSHA) which criticized "...faulty safety systems, significant shortcomings with theemergency procedures and a lack of employee training".

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“Bayer firmly stated that it did not withhold any information required by the authorities atany time.” In reality, Bayer CropScience CEO William Buckner conceded under oath thatthe company used chemical plant security regulations to try to hide information about theincident and avoid a public debate over the large amounts of MIC stored at the Institute plant: "There were, of course, some business reasons that also motivated our desire for confidentiality," Buckner said. "These included a desire to limit negative publicity generallyabout the company or the Institute facility, to avoid public pressure to reduce the volume of MIC that is produced and stored at Institute by changing to alternative technologies, or evencalls by some in our community to eliminate MIC production entirely."Bayer also attached the translation of Werner Wenning´s reply to our countermotion in May 2009.This document contains similar assertions: "The fact is that the MIC tank in Institute was notaffected by the explosion or the subsequent fire" and "the population or the environment were notat risk". Again this contradicts to the Senate report which concluded that the explosion "camedangerously close" to compromising a MIC storage tank. In fact, the explosion was only 80 feetfrom a tank that can hold up to 37,000 pounds of MIC. Had the residue treater hit the MIC tank,"the consequences could have eclipsed the 1984 disaster in India."Wenning continues: “All the safety apparatus designed to protect the tank functioned perfectly, andthere was no cause for concern in this respect at any time” – a clear contradiction to the Senatefindings: "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 MICmonitoring systems that were out of service at the time of the explosion," the committee reportsaid. "The documents also raise questions about whether Bayer has adequately considered thefeasibility of reducing its MIC stockpile or switching to inherently safer technologies."Therefore we maintain our demand to exclude Bayer from the UN Global Compact due to their violations of the Compact´s principles in the aftermath of the Institute explosion. We thank you for your attention and look forward to your response.With Regards,