[...]Thank you for giving us the opportunity to express our views regarding the claims made by Oxfam to Edeka related to Megabanana, a Dole Food Company owned banana farm in Ecuador under the German Supply Chain Act.

Dole is however not directly involved in the claim managed by the Bundesamt fur Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle (Bafa) with the parties. We can therefore not comment on the process or the allegations. We have however delivered all the requested information and reports related to it.

Regarding the separate article about freedom of association in Ecuador, Dole is committed to complying with ILO conventions including convention 87 on freedom of association and respects its workers’ rights to it. In 2011, MEGABANANA S.A., Dole’s banana division in Ecuador, signed a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with “Comité de Empresa de Trabajadores de la Compafiia Megabananas”, a union affiliated with FENACLE, Ecuador's national agro-industrial workers and small farmers’ federation, and in December 2024, the parties signed the Seventh CBA.

Currently, approximately 807 workers and employees of Dole in Ecuador, representing approximately 33% of the labor force, are affiliated to one of the three worker organizations of the company (Comite de Empresa de los Trabajadores de la Compafiia Megabanana 5.A., Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Finca Maria Jose y Banaloli, and Comité de Empresa de Logistica Bananera 5.A.). Management works closely with workers representatives in matters relating to workers’ health, safety, and labor conditions among others. Based on the above, we reject the unfortunate accusations and misrepresentations made by Astac in relation to freedom of association in our Ecuador operations.