Amsterdam, 20 August 2002. Today, Friends of the Earth Netherlands filed a complaint against the Dutch food multinational Nutreco for violating the OECD guidelines for Multinationals. The complaint has been registered with both the Dutch and Chilean governments and focuses on the environmental and social problems Nutreco’s salmon farms in Chile are causing. Friends of the Earth Netherlands’ report, "Nutreco’s salmon: Intensive Farming in Chile’s Waters", describes the situation and will be published today.

The Nutreco case is the first of the Filthy Five series, which will be appearing one by one in the next months. In the series, Friends of the Earth will take a closer look at five Dutch companies that are shirking their corporate responsibilities. The terrible situations these cases represent are a call for binding international legislation for multinationals. Friends of the Earth Netherlands will put its demands to the Dutch government that will join the negotiations at the UN Earth Summit, which starts next week.
Friends of the Earth campaigner Monique de Lede, "Good behaviour should not stop at the border."

Nutreco is the global market leader in farmed salmon and owns over thirty farms in Chile. Raising salmon causes many environmental problems. The antibiotics used to combat disease, food remains and faeces of the closely packed salmon are polluting Chile’s lakes and seas.. The company does not always abide by Chilean law. Nutreco has built farms near the coast even though a five-mile coast zone has been defined for small-scale fishing. Chilean law also prohibits fish farms in traditional fishing areas. Nutreco has refused to disclose the exact location of its farms. Information provided by the local population has led Friends of the Earth to suspect that some of Nutreco’s farms are located in these forbidden areas.

The company is also a violating the OECD environmental guidelines to prevent and reduce damage and to monitor environmental effects. The labour conditions at Nutreco have also been criticised. Nutreco has hindered trade unions and some groups of employees are not allowed to join a union. The company has also refused to enter into negotiations on a collective agreement for its various Chilean locations. This allows Nutreco to let the various locations compete against each other. Companies are not obliged to adhere to the OECD guidelines.

On August 31st, Friends of the Earth will lead fifty other Dutch organisations in building a big bridge on the Dam Square in Amsterdam with the message Limits to Trade.

Note:
The report Nutreco’s salmon: Intensive Farming in Chile’s Waters is available in Dutch with an English summary, but as well in full English version and can be downloaded here:

Dutch, part 1 (PDF 4.8 MB)
Dutch, part 2 (PDF, 4.6 MB)
English (Word, 136 KB)

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