We present a chiral-invariant SU(3) Lagrangian describing the interactions of the baryon octet with the lowest-mass meson nonets. Empirical estimates for the strengths of these vertices are given. The nonlinear realization of the chiral symmetry generates pair-meson interaction vertices, the coupling constants for which contain no new free parameters. A baryon-baryon potential is evaluated and its quality is examined for the NN sector.