The question if and in what manner selling Paraquat violates fundamental human rights and more specifically, if market leader Syngenta when selling Paraquat exercises its obligation to respect human rights or not, has gained little attention so far. With the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, developed by John Ruggie and adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council in June 2011, there is now a worldwide recognized standard which provides criteria to answer the question of corporations’ responsibility for human rights violations. The purpose of this legal opinion is to analyze if Syngenta is fulfilling its responsibility to respect human rights under the UN Guiding Principles when producing and marketing Paraquat in the way it currently does. For the first time, the Guiding Principles are applied in a concrete case of violations of the right to life and health that have taken place daily and globally for the past fifty years.

The verdict of this analysis is clear: By selling Paraquat – particularly in developing countries – Syngenta violates its responsibility to respect human rights. The Guiding Principles – also endorsed by corporations and business associations – are not being adhered to. It is no longer sufficient for a company to emphasize that it abides by national laws. If the activities of a corporation violate the right to health, the corporation must act. And this is exactly where Syngenta falls short.