Home Complaints database Indigenous leaders of AIDESEP and FECONAU et al. vs. Louis Dreyfus Company B.V
Complaint

Indigenous leaders of AIDESEP and FECONAU et al. vs. Louis Dreyfus Company B.V

Louis Dreyfus Company’s involvement in illegal palm oil plantations

Date filed
1 December 2022
Keywords
Countries of harm
Current status
Under review
Sector
NCP

Allegations

On 1 December 2022, indigenous leaders of AIDESEP and FECONAU, with support of a coalition of Peruvian and international NGOs (Forest Peoples Programme, Instituto de Defensa Legal, Instituto de Estudios Forestales y Ambientales – Kené, EIA – Environmental Investigation Agency, and the Center for Climate Crime Analysis) filed a complaint against Louis Dreyfus Company B.V., a major Dutch agricultural commodities trader, at NCP Netherlands.

The complainants allege that the company’s supplier – the Ocho Sur Group – operates on unlawfully appropriated lands in the Peruvian Amazon – lands that form part of the ancestral territory of the Indigenous Community of Santa Clara de Uchunya and the Shipibo-Konibo people. According to the complainants, the plantations operated by the Ocho Sur Group have led to of over 12,000 hectares of illegal deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest and operate to this day without required environmental certifications.

The complaint claim that Louis Dreyfus Company has:

  • Failed to conduct appropriate due diligence to identify, prevent and mitigate adverse impacts caused by its business relationship with the Ocho Sur Group
  • Contributed to the adverse environmental and human rights impact caused by the Ocho Sur Group in Peru
  • Breached the OECD Guidelines in relation to disclosure, communication and consultation concerning the company’s misleading claims related to palm oil sustainability and its ‘green’ credentials

The complainants make several requests of the company, including acknowledgement of responsibility for the adverse impacts on the environment and the human rights of indigenous communities, its immediate halting of its contribution to these harms, and its exercise of leverage to prevent future impacts from its business relationship with Ocho Sur Group. Among other things, they seek public disclosure of the company’s due diligence processes and the removal of misleading information from the company’s website and reports in relation to its sustainability.

Relevant OECD Guidelines

Outcome

On 4 September 2023, the Dutch NCP published its initial assessment accepting the complaint. Both parties have accepted the NCP’s offer of good offices.

More details

Defendant
Company in violation
Other companies involved
Complainants
Affected people
Other NCP's where the complaint was filed

Documents