In a ruling handed down on Monday, Brazil’s economic competition watchdog gave grain exporters 10 days to shut down the country’s “soy moratorium” or face big fines, saying it represents a potential breach of the country’s competition law. The general superintendent of Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) called for a full investigation of associations and companies that belong to the Soy Working group, signers of the moratorium.
The two-decade-old soy moratorium is a voluntary private pact between grain traders in which they agreed not to buy soybeans grown on land in the Amazon region that was cleared after July 2008 in an effort to reduce deforestation. Signers include Brazilian oilseed processors association ABIOVE, grain exporters association ANEC and international trading giants ADM, Bunge and Cargill.
The CADE ruling was applauded by farm groups, which have been seeking an end to the moratorium. Farmer group Aprosoja Mato Grosso called the ruling “historic.” “For years, a private agreement without legal support has been imposing unfair trade barriers on farmers… preventing the sale of crops grown in regular and licensed areas,” it said in a statement. However, ANEC called CADE’s stance on the moratorium “extremely worrisome” and said it will be appealed. The program should stand as it is “a multi-sector pact” backed by civil society, the environment ministry and Brazil’s environment agency Ibama, ANEC added in a statement.
