Bread for all, SWISSAID and Catholic Lenten Fund issued a report claiming that the Moroccan state-owned company OCP is polluting the air with its fertiliser factories, and endangering the health of its employees and of the local population. The report mentions at least eleven Swiss commodity traders have a commercial relationship with OCP which means they are implicated in human rights violations and environmental pollution in Morocco.

On August 26th, 2019, OCP has responded to such allegations in a letter shared with the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. OCP states that the report was publicised in the context of political domestic agenda relating to a domestic vote in Switzerland. The company also reiterated its priorities in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all its workers and the neighbouring populations.

In the report, Swiss companies were asked if they purchase phosphate products from OCP and if they use human rights and environmental criteria to assess producers’ practices. Only 4  companies responded - Yara, Keytrade, Ameropa and Mambo- highlighting that they fail to carry out a detailed human rights analysis of OCP. Their response is attached below. The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has given the opportunity the 6 other companies mentioned in the report to respond. These companies are Actatrade, LAD trade, Vertiqal, Mekatrade, Helm, Indagro: None of them has yet provided a response.