On Friday (12), a public hearing in the Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development Committee of the Chamber of Deputies revealed that groups in the agribusiness sector want to end the Soy Moratorium. This agreement aims to eliminate deforestation from Brazil's soy production chain. The Soy Moratorium was defined through an agreement among civil society organizations, the federal government and part of the industry that uses the grain as a raw material.
"We're going to overturn the Soy Moratorium in Brazil," said Congresswoman Coronel Fernanda (Liberal Party), who presented the request for the hearing.
The Soy Moratorium was signed for the first time in 2006 by industry associations that, at the time, controlled more than 90% of the soy market in Brazil, as well as civil society organizations. The agreement establishes the commitment of the signatory companies not to purchase soy produced in deforested areas in the country after July 22, 2008, the year the Brazilian government joined the pact. It was initially valid for two years, but was renewed indefinitely from 2016.
Under the agreement, rural properties in municipalities with more than 5,000 hectares of soybean plantations are monitored via satellite by the Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon by Satellite (PRODES, in Portuguese), an initiative managed by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE, in Portuguese). The monitoring seeks to identify whether there is an increase in areas deforested for farming exceeding the limit established by the Brazilian Forest Code, which is 20% of rural properties.
The main argument against the agreement is the negative impact on the development of grain-producing municipalities, given the restriction on deforestation in the Amazon biome to expand cultivation.
Senator Jaime Bagattoli (Liberal Party), who was at the hearing, said "it is costly" to keep 80% of the forest standing. He said he would call on the Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, to explain the Soy Moratorium to Congress.
Marcelo Lara, vice-president of the Santarém Rural Union, in Pará state, said that Brazil has one of the "most restrictive forest codes in the world" and added that "so many embargoes and inspections make producers do things illegally."
Attack on NGOs
In many situations, federal deputy Coronel Fernanda and other participants made harsh criticisms of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that deal with the environmental agenda. Without giving names, she said the organizations were invited to the hearing, but declined the invitation.
Greenpeace Brasil and WWF-Brazil, civil society representatives on the Soy Working Group and the Moratorium Steering Committee, released a statement in which they confirmed that they were invited to take part in the public hearing, "but declined the invitation due to the hostile environment and intimidation targeting non-governmental organizations."
According to the NGOs, the "hearing was organized by parliamentarians and soy producers who want to loosen or end the restrictions provided for in the Moratorium – a voluntary agreement signed in 2006 by soy trading companies in response to demands from European consumers – to stop deforestation caused by the soy production chain in the Amazon biome."
"While the municipalities monitored by the Moratorium recorded a 69% reduction in deforestation (between 2009 and 2022), the area planted with soy in the Amazon biome grew by 344%. In the same period, Brazil became the world’s largest soy exporter and is responsible for more than a third of the grain produced globally. This data shows that it is possible to expand [soybean production] while maintaining firm environmental commitments," says an excerpt from the joint response sent by Greenpeace Brazil and WWF-Brazil to the Chamber of Deputies committee, which did not mention the letter at the hearing.
Colonel Fernanda said she intends to collect signatures to set up a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI, in Portuguese) to investigate the activities of non-governmental organizations in the country.
"Senators, I'll propose a mixed CPI to investigate these NGOs. If they didn't have the courage to come here voluntarily, they will be forced to come and give us explanations. They will have to come here and explain. The [state-run] Bank of Brazil will have to come and explain to us why they are using public money at the behest of NGOs," she said.
About this topic, Greenpeace Brazil says it regrets "the clear attempt to criminalize the work of NGOs through a CPI."
Proposed changes to the moratorium
André Nassar, a representative of the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Producers (Abiove, in Portuguese), a signatory to the agreement, presented a series of proposals to "improve" the current moratorium document. The measures include a monthly update of the disclosures – currently made every three months – ensuring more participation from producers, with the National Confederation of Agriculture (CAN, in Portuguese) and the Brazilian Association of Soybean Producers (Aprosoja, in Portuguese) joining the Working Group, as well as establishing a protocol for monitoring and enforcing the Forest Code rules.
Nassar repeatedly warned those present that these changes would also have an impact on consumer markets. "To share with you all this, we did a deep analysis of the impact that ending the moratorium could have on Brazilian soybeans abroad. We are convinced that, if we end the moratorium, we will have a boycott of Brazilian soybeans abroad," he said.
Abiove representative's proposals irritated Congresswoman Coronel Fernanda, who said she "wanted to hit" the industry representative, complained about the guest's presentation and continued advocating an end to the moratorium. Aprosoja’s representative, Lucas Costa Beber, also rejected the proposals and said the association will work for the "extinction of the soy moratorium."
Greenpeace did not respond to our questions about the proposed changes to the agreement, presented by André Nassar.
Bank of Brazil’s press office sent a statement to Brasil de Fato stating that "BB takes proactive and voluntary measures that comply with all laws and regulations on the subject." The statement also says that the bank's policies "follow socio-environmental criteria in its analysis" and that the institution "has an automated process, using analytical solutions that check whether the area receiving financing has legal restrictions or regulatory prohibitions, using restrictive public bases."
Brasil de Fato contacted the Ministry of the Environment to comment, but had not received a response by the time this article was published. If the ministry or the minister responds, the article will be updated.
Edited by: Rodrigo Chagas
