Responsible Lobbying

We support and promote responsible, accountable, transparent and democratic processes that benefit society at large. Hence we respect the roles and responsibilities of the institutions and organizations we engage with and are open about the interests we seek to advance.

Our interaction with politicians is based on evidence. We are open for dialog with all stakeholders. BASF is not affiliated with any political party, individual members of parliament or incumbents or candidates for a political office. BASF has a view on issues, not on political parties or individual policy makers.

BASF conducts political dialog in cooperation with the relevant interest groups. We are involved in numerous industry associations all over the world. In support of local political dialog, BASF has liaison offices e.g. in Berlin, Brussels, Washington and Beijing. BASF is in favor of fostering transparency in advocacy and will participate in transparency or advocacy registers where possible, for example with the European Parliament and the European Commission and in the United States.

BASF aims to conduct Political Relations and Advocacy with its own staff resources to the greatest extent possible. We will always attempt to make and hold all relevant contacts and meetings between BASF and political stakeholders by BASF representatives in person and not by agency or partner staff on behalf of BASF. Exceptions are kept to a minimum. Any hiring of agencies or partner staff for interaction with political stakeholders on behalf of BASF is governed by our policy. All agencies must commit in writing to abide by our standards.

Quiet Period

During election periods, BASF and its representatives remain politically neutral. A “Quiet Period” is observed ahead of elections during which we do not present, give or participate in any publicly visible platform for political parties or electoral candidates. In general, we regard a duration of eight weeks before election as appropriate unless national election specifics make a longer or shorter period necessary.

Employee Engagement

BASF encourages employees to engage in voluntary civic, social and political commitment within their private capacities. BASF pursues no corporate interests whatsoever in connection with private voluntary work and personal mandates of employees. BASF employees will respect the provisions on conflict of interest set out in BASF's Global Code of Conduct.

Our company does not tolerate violations and will not protect those responsible for sanctions imposed by the authorities.