OECD body accepts complaint by Yavatmal pesticide poisoning victims

Nagpur: After the kin of two persons who died of pesticide poisonings of 2017 in Yavatmal filed a case in a Swiss court against pesticide multinational Syngenta, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) national contact point (NCP), also in Switzerland, has accepted another complaint against the company on Wednesday. This was stated by a group of NGOs that were pursuing the case on behalf of survivors of pesticide poisoning in Yavatmal that left many hundreds dead.

The case and the complaint have been filed in Switzerland as it is also the home country of Syngenta, which operates in India too. A number of victims of the accidental pesticide poisoning were found using Polo, a brand made by Syngenta. Other brands were named in the cases too.

The acceptance of complaint by OECD-NCP opens the door for negotiations between the two parties in which the aggrieved persons can seek compensation from the company.

The acceptance also indicates there is merit in the case and it can be heard further, said a source in the NGO that pursued the matter. The complaint was filed in September and the acceptance has come now after the due diligence was done. The case in Swiss court too was filed in September this year.

OECD is an inter-governmental body with 37 members. The complaint was filed on behalf of 51 affected families on September 12 by the Maharashtra Association of Pesticide Poisoned Persons (MAPP) together with Pesticide Action Network India (PAN India) and Asia Pacific (PAN- AP), the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights and Public Eye, a release issued by them said.

Wednesday’s decision may not be a recognition that Syngenta has violated the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises but does conclude that the issues raised in the complaint merit further consideration. It is time for Syngenta to come to the table, said the press release.

Narsihma Reddy of PAN-India told TOI that like the two widows who had filed the case in the Swiss court, names of these 51 survivors have not been revealed for security reasons.

The NGO had surveyed the villages and held health camps during last three years on the basis of which the victims could be identified.

“These persons survived but suffered serious health complications due to the accidental inhalation of pesticides. Most common is photosensitivity, which hamper hampers vision in daylight. As they have to work in the day, it has affected their livelihood too,” said Reddy.

He said the case was not filed in India even as there were domestic companies’ pesticides found being used by the victims because the Indian laws do not call for providing compensation by pesticide companies. NGOs are demanding the new pesticide law should have the clause.