Bayer Counters Accusations Involving Monsanto Weedkiller -- WSJ
September 06 2019 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Ruth Bender
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 6, 2019).
BERLIN -- Monsanto Co.'s public-relations tactics in Europe
didn't break the law, according to a report commissioned by Bayer
AG, which continues to battle fallout from its acquisition of the
U.S. agrochemical company.
The German chemicals and pharmaceuticals group said a law firm
had examined allegations about Monsanto's listing of critics of the
main ingredient of its Roundup weedkillers and found no
wrongdoing.
Bayer has been in crisis mode since closing the Monsanto deal in
2018, with its share price falling sharply. In the past year, it
has lost three jury trials alleging that Roundup causes cancer.
Bayer is also facing bans in Europe on glyphosate, the weedkiller's
main ingredient, due to perceived environmental risks.
A separate front opened in May after French prosecutors launched
an investigation following local media reports that Monsanto and a
public-relations firm had drawn up lists in 2016 of hundreds of
influential French personalities, some of whom had raised concerns
about possible risks posed by Monsanto's products.
While compiling so-called stakeholder lists is common practice
in public relations, the media reports said they included sensitive
personal information that wasn't publicly available -- the storage
of which without permission can be illegal in some European Union
countries. However, Bayer said Thursday that law firm Sidley Austin
LLP had examined the allegations and found no evidence that the
lists were illegal.
Monsanto has long been a lightning rod for environmentalists in
Europe, who see it as a symbol for practices they oppose, from the
genetic engineering of crops to the intensive use of pesticide in
agriculture.
Bayer, which inherited that reputational baggage, has appealed
the Roundup court verdicts in the U.S., insisting the product is
safe when used with proper precautions. It has also criticized bans
on glyphosate in Germany and Austria as unscientific.
As part of its effort to clear its name, Bayer hired Matthias
Berninger, a former Green Party politician in Germany, as its head
of public affairs and sustainability.
People familiar with the matter said Mr. Berninger caused
consternation among former Monsanto employees in the U.S. when he
publicly apologized for the company's stakeholder lists in May
before it was established whether the practice was illegal.
Sidley Austin said it assessed over 2.4 million documents in
relation to the lists, which included 1,500 people, mostly in the
EU -- from journalists to officials working in EU institutions --
but also in the U.S.
In its 49-page report, the law firm said the lists were
"detailed, methodical, and designed to strongly advocate Monsanto's
positions to stakeholders and to the public." But the firm said it
found no evidence of illegal surveillance of personal hobbies or
leisure activities or information that went beyond what was in the
public domain.
The German Council for Public Relations in July also concluded
that there was no wrongdoing.
The French prosecutor's office couldn't be reached to comment on
the status of its probe.
A Bayer spokesman said the French prosecutor's investigations
were ongoing. The company said it hasn't been presented with formal
allegations or charges from any data-protection authority or other
body, either in France or elsewhere in the EU.
Write to Ruth Bender at Ruth.Bender@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 06, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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