Major European food retailers have called on global grain traders to defend Brazil’s soy moratorium initiative

Major European food retailers have called on global grain traders to defend Brazil’s soy moratorium initiative, an agreement designed to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation caused by soy crops, amid efforts by farmers to halt the program.

In a letter dated Sept. 5, seen by Reuters, the grocery chains, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Lidl and Aldi, directly asked the CEOs of ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus Company and China’s Cofco to publicly reaffirm their commitment to ban soybeans from Amazon farmers who cleared land there after a 2008 deadline.

“We are writing to you at a critical time for the future of the Amazon soy moratorium, an initiative that your companies have championed to protect the Amazon for nearly two decades,” the letter said, adding that the decision by Brazil’s antitrust authority CADE to suspend the program in August “represents a serious threat to this vital agreement.”

The letter said consumers and big companies would renew pressure on traders unless they refused to ship soy grown in deforested Amazon forests.

Brazil, the world’s largest soy producer and exporter, sells most of it to China, which needs it for its raw materials.

Traders did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The moratorium, intended to slow soy-driven deforestation in the Amazon, has angered farmers for years. Ultimately, powerful lobbying by farmers in Congress forced CADE to investigate.

The letter, which was also signed by the UK National Pig Association and private food producers based in the UK, praises grain traders for their efforts to appeal CADE’s decision.

“While a temporary injunction has been issued to immediately enforce the CADE ruling, steps must be taken to address any uncertainty in the marketplace during this period regarding the protection of this vital ecosystem,” the letter says.

The signatories say that if the soy moratorium is suspended, they expect grain traders to be prepared to “immediately implement temporary company-level enforcement measures until a long-term solution is found” to protect the Amazon.

Tags: Brazil, EU, soybean