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28 Jul 2022

Switzerland: Civil Court in Basel rules court has jurisdiction & grants legal aid to plaintiffs in legal case against Syngenta over alleged pesticide poisonings in India

A Swiss civil court in Basel has ruled that the court has jurisdiction over a civil lawsuit filed by the wives of two farmers, who died as a result of pesticides poisoning and a survivor of a severe case of poisoning, and granted legal aid to all three plaintiffs in their case against agrochemical company Syngenta. The case is based on product liability laws.

In 2017, hundreds of farmers suffered severe poisoning while spraying pesticides on cotton fields in the central Indian district of Yavatmal. The plaintiffs claim that the poisonings and deaths are linked to their or their husbands use of Polo, a pesticide developed and marketed by Syngenta. The company denies responsibility.

Following the court's ruling that the applicants will receive legal aid, the cases can now go forward. The court further decided to treat the three cases separately as different evidentiary questions might arise in each claim.

A separate OECD complaint filed by 51 families at the Swiss National Contact Point ended in June 2022 without agreement or remedy because the company said it could not discuss whether Polo had caused the poisonings due to the ongoing judicial proceedings. More information on that case is available here.