To what extent should businesses that sell goods abroad be accountable for how they are used after the sale?

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I report on the Swiss pharmaceutical industry and healthcare topics such as access to medicine, biomedical innovation, and the impact of diseases like cancer. I grew up just outside San Francisco and studied international affairs with a focus on development economics and healthcare policy. Prior to joining SWI swissinfo.ch in 2018, I was a freelance journalist and a researcher on business and human rights.

Français

Dans quelle mesure les entreprises qui vendent des biens à l’étranger doivent-elles être responsables de la manière dont ils sont utilisés?
Italiano

In che misura le aziende che vendono beni all’estero dovrebbero essere responsabili di come questi vengono usati?
Español

¿Hasta qué punto las empresas que venden productos en el extranjero deben rendir cuentas sobre el uso que, tras su venta, se hace de dichos productos?
العربية

ما هي المسؤولية التي تتحملها الشركات المُصنّعة عن كيفية استخدام آلاتها ومُنتجاتها وكيف ينبغي مُحاسبتها؟

Companies that sell pesticides, technology, and machines are increasingly under pressure to ensure that their products aren’t associated with human rights abuses or environmental destruction.

What responsibility do companies have for how their products are ultimately used and by whom? How should they be held to account? We’d like to hear from you!

From the article Reduced access to pesticides can prevent suicides

From the article The Swiss textile machinery industry has a China dilemma

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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

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Anonymous 2021-08-03 07:18

Switzerland should be able to sale whatever the buyers one, like a car dealers sale you a car independently if you are alcoholic or not. It is not the responsibility of the car industry what buyers do with their cars. So I will say the same about Pilatus, a real gem in the technological and competitive world of aviation.

gopeli3730 2021-05-05 11:44

Not at all. Each country is responsible for their laws and the companies who operate there have to follow the laws. Once something is sold it is the property of their new owners.

Anyone thinking otherwise should probably pay for repairs on a house they sold years ago, or damages caused by a car they sold and obviously every bank and pharma employee should go to jail if anyone dies by using their medicine wrong or uses the money for criminal activities. That is an absurd logic. Owners are responsible for their actions.

LynxVegas 2021-04-16 12:12

Responsible and accountable business. Aren't these oxymorons? Businesses only care about one thing. Making money.

PASSERBY2 2021-04-14 13:39

Fair work conditions in corporations or lower pollution should be addressed by more realistic initiatives. The proposal is illogical - does a maker of a knife is responsible when I cut myself - and as such perhaps best viewed as a diversion from making world a better place.

Riccardo Caruso 2021-04-11 22:29

The following contribution has been automatically translated from IT.

Try to avoid selling products to such countries, because in case of awareness by the people, it may lead to reduced sales due to low confidence, due to such cause.

Cercare di evitare di vendere prodotti a tali paesi, perché in caso di presa di coscienza da parte del popolo, potrebbe portare a una riduzione delle vendite per la poca fiducia, dovuta a tale causa.

Jack53 2021-04-09 15:18

The following contribution has been automatically translated from IT.

It is the governments of the foreign countries to whom the goods of our multinationals are sold that must put rules in place in their countries.

Sono i governi dei paesi esteri a cui vengono venduti i beni delle nostre multinazionali, che devono mettere regole nei loro paesi.

Jrj 2021-04-07 01:35

The greatest trick huge, polluting and dangerous corporations have played is convincing the public the responsibility to not pollute rests with them.

We have to recycle. We have to eat sustainably sourced food, etc.

If they weren't producing all this garbage in the first place, it wouldn't be a problem. It's not like we the consumer have many options when it comes to fossil fuel products like plastics, fuel, etc. The government and industry have the ability to regulate and innovate new solutions, but they prefer to punish the general public with carbon, sugar and other taxes, while forcing us to pay more for food that essentially doesn't poison us. It's a disgrace.

LoL 2021-04-07 20:48

@Jrj

Yeah, if you don't recycle you buy expensive bags, it is good motivation but it does not work that well. When I shop most of plastic i get is not pet and not just regular plastic but one marked that you have to put it away in a white bag and they crumble very badly taking up a lot of space. For example milk, none of the bottles i saw in coop can be recycled, why not use glass... I am fed up with this fake recycling where products you buy don't offer any alternative rather than pay extra from your pocket for extra white bag just for this plastic which has no alternative in our shops. Why not make producer make pet products or just normal plastic and etc so we consumers can recycle it rather than companies continuing polluting with non recycble plastic and us paying for it double because of the bags with no convinient alternative.

Anonymous 2021-04-03 20:25

Are we our "brothers keepers"? But bringing onto markets products that the manufacturer well knows will be misused...a thorny problem. On the other hand, reduce or totally eliminate products well known for being harmful - at home or abroad.