FoE joy as Bayer drops legal action 

Rob Evans
Wednesday June 30, 2004
The Guardian 

Environmental campaigners have won a legal battle against a 
multinational company on the right to publicise the potential 
hazards of pesticides. 

Bayer has been forced to drop a court action against Friends 
of the Earth, in what FoE called a "humiliating climbdown". 
FoE believes it is an important victory in its campaign for 
greater openness surrounding pesticides. 

FoE campaigners had obtained safety studies submitted by Bayer 
to the Swedish inspectorate responsible for regulating pesticides. 
The documents were released by the Swedish government under its
"freedom of information" laws. 

Bayer demanded that FoE promise not to tell the public it had 
obtained these studies, nor how to obtain further such studies. 
FoE refused. 

Bayer went to the high court last October to get an injunction 
gagging the FoE campaigners. The company, which has a global 
turnover of £20bn, warned it would sue FoE for damages. 

FoE campaigners challenged the injunction and this week Bayer 
withdrew the injunction and promised to take no further legal 
moves against FoE. A Bayer spokesman said the company wanted to
 protect data which "would be valuable to competitors".