Brazilian court blocks lifting of soy moratorium

A Brazilian federal judge on Monday temporarily suspended a ruling by antitrust regulator CADE that ordered grain traders to end a so-called “soy moratorium” program, Reuters reported.

The two-decade-old private agreement was designed to protect the Amazon rainforest by barring traders from buying soybeans from farmers who grew the crop on land cleared of forests after July 2008.

Last week, CADE’s general superintendent gave grain traders 10 days to end the soy moratorium or face fines as the regulator demanded a full investigation into the signatories to the program, in which companies exchange commercially sensitive information.

“The decision was criticized by grain lobbyists, environmental organization Greenpeace and Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment, while agricultural organizations, including Aprosoja Mato Grosso, supported it,” the report said.

In his ruling on Monday, Judge Adversi Rates sided with Abiove, a lobby representing oilseed producers, and ordered the watchdog to suspend its decision until the full CADE panel makes a final ruling on Abiove’s appeal.

Farmers have long challenged the so-called “soy moratorium,” arguing that the agreement between traders sets stricter rules than the country’s law, which allows landowners in the Amazon to grow crops on 20 percent of their land.

Between 2020 and 2022, at least 42,000 hectares of forest were cleared in the state of Mato Grosso to grow soybeans. Deforestation in the Amazon continues.

Tags: Brazil, soybean