The Principles for Our Interaction with Stakeholders

Bayer looks back on a history of more than 160 years. Throughout this time our communities and their expectations towards businesses have changed dramatically and it is important that we continue to adapt to meet their needs also in the future. That is why, today, we are upgrading our engagement policy to ensure we can meet current societal needs and create value for all our stakeholders through our business activities.

Today, Bayer is operating at the edge of innovation in healthcare and agriculture. Our product portfolio, position in markets, and commitment to innovation puts us in a strong position to continue to make a significant positive contribution to solving some of the major challenges of our time. This includes the growing and aging global population, climate change and diseases as well as to help achieve the United Nations Global Goals on Sustainable Development. We are aware of the responsibility resulting from this position and strive to proactively deliver on it. We recognize that our impact is measured not only by what we have to offer but also by how we engage with society and communities around the world.

These Bayer Societal Engagement (BASE) Principles guide our interactions with everyone – our employees, patients, customers, consumers, business partners, public policy stakeholders, scientists, critics and our shareholders worldwide. Moreover, what fuels the BASE Principles is our passion and determination to make a significant positive contribution to addressing some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

We seek to listen, understand, take concerns seriously, and respectfully engage in dialogue, especially where dialogue is hard or inconvenient. We strive to create shared value and achieve win-win situations in everything we do. To achieve that, we make sure our engagement with society accompanies the transformational potential of our portfolio and our talented people. The new Bayer Sustainability Council, with its external experts from all areas relevant to Bayer, will advise the company on the transformation of its business and help us reach our goals.

We act responsibly towards our employees, patients, customers, consumers, business partners, public policy stakeholders, scientists, critics, shareholders and to society in general. We protect the planet and the communities in which we operate.

• We contribute to ensuring the future livelihood of our planet for humans, animals and plants. We use natural resources responsibly and limit our ecological footprint
• We stand for sustainable development and commit to doing business in an economically, ecologically and socially responsible way
• We contribute to the development of less developed regions of the world by increasing access to health and nutrition, adhering to and raising standards, and by investing in education
• We support and respect human rights and leverage our sphere of influence to promote them, inside and outside of Bayer
• We firmly believe that compliance protects our license to operate worldwide and therefore place great importance on responsible corporate governance

More information:

Responsible Care – Bayer Group Position

Bayer Sustainable Development Policy

Bayer Human Rights Position

Bayer Modern Slavery Position

Science has always been a key driving force behind progress. We believe that the problems of our times will only be solved by solutions deeply rooted in science.

• Our business success depends on a relationship with scientists based on respect, curiosity and the desire to advance scientific discovery
• Purpose of science
  • We are committed to generating and delivering solutions in the field of healthcare and agriculture with the aim of improving peoples’ lives and addressing major societal challenges
  • We are committed to discovering and developing solutions that help reduce environmental impact along the entire value chain
• Good scientific practice
  • We conduct our scientific communication, including scientific publications, in accordance with current internal and relevant external legal and ethical standards
  • We are committed to communicate information on our research and development activities in an accurate, objective, and timely fashion
  • We work towards a maximum of transparency through our publication practice. We always properly reflect and disclose our participation in any scientific work and publications of others as well as the participation of others in the development of our publications. We are transparent and grant reasonable access to scientific findings
  • We provide transparency on our research partnerships via a publicly accessible collaboration registry
  • We promote human and animal welfare in research and development. Where animal tests are legally required, we maximize animal wellbeing and actively work towards making them obsolete
  • We conduct clinical trials in accordance with international guidelines and uphold the highest ethical standards
  • When using genetic engineering, we respect highest ethical standards and are fully aware of our responsibility for the safety of mankind and the protection of the environment

Bayer is a place where employees can positively change the world with their work and where they can learn and grow every day. To create value for a diverse world, we need to be a diverse and inclusive workplace that empowers people with different backgrounds and skills to make a difference. We are responsible towards our employees throughout the world and apply these standards towards the partners we work with.

• We treat each other with fairness and respect with zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment
• We create a diverse and purposeful working environment
• We foster a culture of trust and inclusion
• We ensure fair compensation and equal opportunities for all our employees
• We ensure safe and healthy work conditions
• We develop employees based on achievements and practiced values
• We respect diversity of thought and freedom of speech, religion and sexual orientation
• We support community engagement based on our Bayer values

Our products and services can contribute to transformational changes around the world. It is in that spirit we want to collaborate with our business partners along the value chain and to take accountability. Our goal is to help people and communities thrive by partnering and doing business with us.

• We compete fairly in every market, we act with integrity in all our business dealings, and we comply with all applicable laws and respect all antitrust rules
• We make business decisions that are not impaired by conflicts of interest and comply with business conduct laws
• We undertake sound measures to prevent money laundering
• We have zero tolerance for bribery and corruption
• We strictly enforce rules regarding the acceptance of gifts
• We place great emphasis on data protection
  • We protect the privacy of personal data and information 
  • We protect confidential business information of our own and of third parties
• We restrict insider information and have no tolerance for insider trading
• We expect our suppliers to organize their business with Bayer in line with the Bayer Supplier Code of Conduct which sets forth key ethical, social and ecological standards
• We adhere to the standards set by our industry associations and it is our ambition to play a leading role in advancing standards

More information:

Supplier Code of Conduct

Bayer Human Rights Position

We act responsibly in our dealings with our customers, patients and the consumers of our products.

• Where we create value, we share that value with our customers and shareholders appropriately. We provide a significant benefit at a value-based price
• We develop safe, high quality products and provide support for the safe application of our products in a close partnership with all who use our products and services
  • We research, develop, manufacture and deliver products on the basis of our Quality Management System
  • We continuously review and improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of our processes in order to comply with external and internal requirements, responsibilities and ethical standards
• We inform transparently about scientifically established benefits and risks and monitor product quality performance in the market
• We use responsible marketing practices
  • We respect patients’ and customers’ preferences
  • We empower customers and patients to make informed choices
• We aim to increase access to our products in the areas of medicine and agriculture, also for poorer parts of the world population

More information:

Responsible Marketing & Sales Regulation

We seek common ground with public policy stakeholders. We listen carefully to diverse points of view and engage in thoughtful dialogue. This requires all engagements and communications be truthful and transparent.

• We support responsible regulatory proposals that improve lobby transparency in our markets
• We, as well as all Bayer-funded third parties, appropriately identify ourselves in all interactions as Bayer or Bayer-supported
• We do not make any donations as a company to political parties, politicians or candidates for a political office, with the exception of political contributions in the United States at State level
• We engage with NGOs with the purpose of learning and exploring common ground
• If Bayer employs former staff of public authorities, we respect their obligation to abide by the rules and confidentiality requirements which apply to them. We refrain from hiring former Ministers or Federal State Secretaries (in other jurisdictions, the first two political tiers) for two years into political roles. We do not hire active Members of Parliament or legislative decision makers for service
• We respect the privacy of all stakeholders with whom we identify and interact
• We publish our positions regarding relevant political topics on the Bayer website, to allow a public debate on the basis of these viewpoints
• As an active member of trade associations, we advocate for these organizations to adopt a code of conduct for responsible lobbying
• We seek to contribute to bi- and multi-partisan initiatives and greater consensus by reaching across the aisle
• We provide transparency about our lobby spending

We respect the independence of journalists and media representatives and seek to be transparent and fact-based in our interactions.

• We engage openly and transparently with journalists and media representatives and provide accurate information
• We do not generate or distribute fake news
• We do not provide any kind of non-transparent sponsorships for grassroots movements. We are transparent if others interact for us with media
• We hold all public relations agencies accountable to our standards when they work for us

Regulators play a key role in protecting the common good. They make decisions based on both sufficient scientific evidence and political goals. Bayer wants to contribute to good decisions by being transparent about its interactions with regulators and about the data we provide to the decision-making process.

• We work to ensure product safety in order to protect people and the environment
• We collect and report Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) performance data in order to accurately map our footprint
• We are transparent about safety data in the regulatory approval process
• We are committed to supporting regulatory goals through co-regulation and self-regulation
• We engage in a timely and transparent manner if new findings raise questions on existing approvals
• We support global convergence of regulatory standards in the spirit of raising the bar for all

More information:

Code of Conduct for Responsible Lobbying

Political Engagement and Positions of Bayer

We recognize the expectations of our shareholders to create long-term value in society whilst delivering business results in line with our promises. We pursue an inclusive business approach, in which we combine financial objectives with societal and environmental responsibility, and balance short-term and long-term targets.

• We create sustainable value for our shareholders by relentlessly focusing on solving some of the world’s most pressing problems
• We ensure transparency about the impact of our value chain
• We inform capital markets with correct and appropriate information in a timely manner
• We protect corporate assets
• We conduct responsible risk management
• We measure key non-financial indicators with the same rigor as financial indicators
• We take into account both financial and non-financial indicators for performance evaluation and decisions on compensation