Sumitomo Chemical Europe

Background

Sumitomo Chemical Group Companies of Europe is the European chemicals subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical International, a diversified company of the Sumitomo Corporation Group. Sumitomo Corporation Group is one of the world’s largest global trading companies and conducts business in a range of global industries including metals, mining, construction, chemicals, energy and food.¹ ² ³

In 1994, Sumitomo Chemical Europe was established in Belgium. The company’s European Regional Headquarters for Plant Protection activities, Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe, was formed in 1993 and is located in France.⁴ ⁵

The “Health and Crop Sciences” division of Sumitomo Chemical Europe produces a wide variety of chemical products, including crop protection chemicals, feed additives, household and public hygiene insecticides, petrochemicals and plastic products.⁶

Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe manufactures disease and pest control products, plant growth regulation products, agrichemical and biological pesticides, plant growth regulators (PGRs), seed treatment products and post-harvest technologies which it then exports to more than 50 European and Middle East African countries.⁷

According to analysis from the market research firm Market and Markets, Sumitomo is a leading player in the global pesticide market. Sumitomo recorded a significant sales increase after it acquired the Brazilian branch of agribusiness company Nufarm for US$1,188 million, marking Sumitomo’s entrance into crop protection and seed treatment markets across South America.⁸ ⁹ ¹⁰

Stance on Climate Change

In a page on its website titled “Response to Climate Change,” parent corporation Sumitomo writes that “climate change is a critical issue that the world must work as one to overcome in order to realize a sustainable society.”¹¹

On a webpage regarding its efforts to reduce its environmental impacts, the company states that it has set multiple goals, including “protecting the atmosphere and aquatic environments, conserving resources and managing waste, properly managing chemical substances, protecting biodiversity, and protecting soil environments.”¹²

In 2019, Sumitomo Corporation announced revisions to its “Climate Change Policy,” which aims for the company to become carbon neutral by 2050. The revised policy includes a goal to reduce Sumitomo Corporation’s CO2 emissions by at least 50 percent by 2035 compared to 2019 levels.¹³ ¹⁴

The company has developed a range of products called “Sumika Sustainable Solutions,” which it states are an important part of its plans to address climate change and other environmental impacts and build “a sustainable society.” Examples of Sumika Sustainable Solutions include packaging that claims to prolong the life of food, and materials for use in hybrid cars.¹⁵ ¹⁶

In 2014, Sumitomo Chemical and Monsanto (prior to being acquired by Bayer in 2018) began a collaboration to expand their herbicide sales in Latin America, under which Sumitomo Chemical’s herbicide flumioxazin was included in Monsanto’s weed management system for Brazil and Argentina. The two companies had signed a prior agreement in 2010 for “long-term collaboration on crop protection and weed control” at a time when Sumitomo was increasing production of its herbicide flumioxazin.¹⁷ ¹⁸

Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe does not appear to list a stance on climate change or any climate policies on its website, but does claim that the Sumitomo Chemical Group will “build the corporate worth, contribute to solving the problems facing society and our environment while enriching people’s lives.”¹⁹

Role in Pesticides Controversy

Flumioxazin

Sumitomo has actively lobbied the EU for legal approval of the use of the weedkiller flumioxazin, an active substance that has been used in agricultural and aquatic herbicides since 2001. Flumioxazin is used in vineyards and orchards in 15 European Member States. Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe currently produces five herbicides that include flumioxazin. ²⁰ ²¹ ²² ²³ ²⁴

The environmental group Pesticide Action Network Europe has included flumioxazin in its “Dirty Six,” a list of what the organization considers the most dangerous endocrine-disrupting pesticides used in Europe.²⁵

Endocrine-disrupting pesticides like flumioxazin are recognized as leading causes of biodiversity loss. Flumioxazin has been found to be highly toxic to algae and aquatic plants, and moderately toxic to earthworms, honey bees, fish and aquatic invertebrates. The substance can also accumulate over time within the organs and tissues of aquatic organisms, eventually increasing the concentration of flumioxazin to toxic levels.²⁶ ²⁷

Flumioxazin is considered the most likely replacement for glyphosate, a widely-used pesticide that certain scientific studies suggest is linked to cancer in humans. As of November 2021, the EU was evaluating whether or not to renew the license for the use of glyphosate in the EU beyond December 2022.²⁸ ²⁹

Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe has lobbied for flumioxazin’s legal approval due to the possible glyphosate ban in Europe by 2022, which would lead to farmers using alternative herbicides, including those that are flumioxazin-based.³⁰

In other parts of the world, flumioxazin-based herbicides are used in the cultivation of soybean, cotton and sugarcane crops. The expansion of soy production in the U.S. since 2012 has led to an incremental increase in Sumitomo’s production and sales of flumioxazin.³¹

European Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, which took effect in 2011, governs which pesticides and other agrochemical products can be sold in the EU. A related regulation, Regulation (EU) No 540/2011, compiles a list of approved active substances in the European Union that have been classed as “non-harmful” to humans and the environment. Flumioxazin was initially added to this list in 2003. Sumitomo began the process of requesting renewal for flumioxazin’s use within European countries in 2013.“³² ³³ ³⁴

Since 2003, the EU has extended its approval for flumioxazin six times, despite yearly objections to the extension by European Parliament Rapporteurs. Sumitomo Chemical Europe representatives have lobbied members to support renewal of flumioxazin’s approval period.³⁵ ³⁶

In a 2020 report, the European Food and Safety Agency (EFSA) stated that the organization was not yet able to determine whether flumioxazin is an endocrine disruptor. The report concluded that “the assessment of the endocrine disruptor properties for humans and non-target arthropods could not be finalized due to incomplete data sets received.”³⁷

In May 2021, CropLife Europe distributed a position paper backing the renewal of flumioxazin to members of the European Parliament’s ENVI Committee. This occurred just prior to a vote regarding extension of the approval periods for several active substances. CropLife Europe’s paper stated, “The extension of the approval period for these substances is not due to any scientific concern,” and that if these substances were banned, politicians would be “[taking] away solutions from EU growers and farmers.”³⁸

EU Focus, an organization lobbying on behalf of Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe within the European Parliament, has advocated for the extension of flumioxazin’s approval. In a paper titled “Why flumioxazin required another extension of its approval – Motion for a Resolution by the EP,”, EU Focus argued flumioxazin’s approval should be extended, because the March 2021 study to define whether flumioxazin provokes endocrine disruption was not yet finalized and could take two and a half to five more years to complete.³⁹ ⁴⁰

In meetings with European Parliament members, Sumitomo said that non-renewal of flumioxazin would undermine “the reputation of the product,” and that members of the European Parliament should not have a say in the substance’s renewal as “they do not have any technical knowledge on it.”⁴¹.

In October 2021, the European Commission voted on the renewal of flumioxazin in its Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF).⁴²

Health and environmental NGOs Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Europe and the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) had called upon EU member nations to oppose the European Commission’s renewal proposal. In November 2021, the SCOPAFF experts voted to extend the use of flumioxazin for another year. In response, PAN Europe considered bringing suit in the EU Court of Justice. The current approval of flumioxazin expires on June 30, 2022.⁴³ ⁴⁴ ⁴⁵

Neonicotinoids

In a January 2020 article headlined “The Pesticide Industry’s Playbook for Poisoning the Earth,” The Intercept named Sumitomo as one of the world’s leading neonicotinoid producers alongside Syngenta, Bayer and BASF.⁴⁶

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published three reports with scientific findings confirming the toxicity to bees of three neonicotinoids: imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and Sumitomo’s clothianidin. Neonicotinoids are a class of insecticides chemically similar to nicotine.⁴⁷

In 2018, Sumitomo Chemical and Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe expressed their opposition to the EU’s decision to ban the three neonicotinoids for agricultural outdoor uses. Neonicotinoids are suspected to be a major factor contributing to the decline in pollinator populations, which can lead to negative effects on plant biodiversity and the production of crops that depend on insect pollination.⁴⁸ ⁴⁹ ⁵⁰

Sumitomo Chemical has stated that the decision of the EFSA to ban clothianidin relied on a risk assessment with “overly conservative” views. The company added that the decision “disregarded a large number of sound scientific studies submitted by Sumitomo Chemical and Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe, suggesting the studies are not exhaustive or reliable enough to draw conclusions on low level effects of clothianidin uses.”⁵¹

In the same press release, Sumitomo Chemical stated that “this new limitation will prevent farmers from using a very effective and safe tool to safeguard efficient agricultural practices and the food supply in Europe.”⁵²

Lobbying

According to the EU Transparency Register , Sumitomo Chemical Europe spent between €25,000 – €49,999 on lobbying in 2020.⁵³

Sumitomo Chemical Europe is a client of lobby consultancies registered within the European Union. In 2019, Sumitomo Chemical Europe spent between € 200,000 – € 299,999 on the services of EU Focus. In 2020, Sumitomo Chemical Agro Europe S.A.S spent between €100,000 – €199,999 on the services of EPPA S.A.⁵⁴ ⁵⁵