The retail chain owned by Christy Walton, one of the richest women in the world, and which is accused of breaking Mexican agricultural, tax, and labor laws, was denounced by various sectors who are opposing the opening of a Walmart store in Cuetzalan, Puebla.
This corporation, they said, teaches providers of farm products to evade taxes, and to avoid Mexican health and packaging of perishable products standards.
Walmart intends to maintain low prices at all time for its consumers by reducing production costs. To achieve this, it uses legal and illegal administrative practices that force producers to violate labor, plant safety, and tax regulations.
"Walmart chokes producers with their prices," said engineer Rochin Cota. "It's a company that has no social responsibility, that mocks rural producers when they make demands and sends them to negotiate at their headquarters in Panama. It also uses irregular criteria for quality controls outside of the official Mexican standards, and it delays payments. The way they treat producers is inhumane when they buy products, such as 6 pesos per kilo of serrano ham, for example, and then Walmart sells it at 30 pesos."
There are complaints about these harmful practices in several states, such as Puebla, Sinaloa, Sonora, Michoacan, and Baja California Sur. Andrés Enrique Rochin Cota, a social activist and farmer, said Walmart implemented unfair practices when purchasing products at a very low price and then marketing it at much higher prices to make millions in profits.
Irregularities in Walmart practices have been been denounced by Romeo Barajas, one of the largest producers of vegetables in Michoacan, who decided not to do business with the company because they wanted to force him to violate health laws. He stated that "Walmart wanted to subject the vegetables harvested in Yurecuaro, Michoacan, to a 10-second disinfection process in tubs of ice and water when the process established by the official standards states that this process should be done in boxes that should be within a cold chamber for at least 10 minutes."
In addition they wanted him to recruit minors and subcontract laborers to evade labor responsibilities with them. They also suggested that he ignore vegetable regulations and wanted to force him to use the boxes that the company Walmart rents to its suppliers.
The federal government's neglect of the Mexican countryside has helped companies like Walmart take advantage of producers. When farmers have no guarantee that their products will be bought at fair prices, they are forced to sell their production to companies like Walmart, which defines the prices paid for each input.
Recently, according to a report of the Public Accounts 2015 of the Superior Audit of the Federation, Peña Nieto allocated more than 1.3 billion pesos to agribusiness. Meanwhile, small and medium producers in rural Mexico recorded annual incomes lower than 17,000 pesos.
Walmart has recommended its suppliers to bill their shipments to the company as product, without defining what kind of merchandise it is, so that they can evade paying the value added tax.
They also recommend not registering workers with the IMSS, to save on worker-employer contributions, 3% payroll tax, and the payment of income tax.
Currently, indigenous communities of the Sierra Norte de Puebla are fighting to stop a Walmart store opening in their territory.
Source: With information from Reporte Indigo and Contralínea