On Wednesday (22), Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply informed that it had been notified by the General Administration of Customs of China about the detection of pests and coated soybean seeds exported by five Brazilian companies to the Asian country. The Chinese authorities have decided to suspend shipments of Brazilian soy to the country until the situation is clarified.
According to Reuters, the measure affected ships from Cargill Agrícola SA, ADM do Brasil, Terra Roxa Comércio de Cereais, Olam Brasil, and C.Vale. The news agency reported the Chinese authorities' decision on January 8. Brasil de Fato contacted the five companies but did not hear back.
For Diana Chaib, an economist and researcher on Sino-Brazilian relations at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG, in Portuguese), China's decision to suspend imports from some Brazilian soy companies can be understood as “a warning to Brazilian agribusiness, especially about the need to improve quality controls and review practices related to pesticide use.”
“The maintenance and expansion of the Chinese market and trade depends on strict compliance with the required health and environmental standards, and this could lead to the need for significant changes in Brazilian agricultural practices,” says Chaib.
Alan Tygel, a member of the Permanent Campaign Against Pesticides and For Life, recalls that agroecology movements have been warning for years about the quality of Brazilian agribusiness products, which rely on the use of highly toxic and environmentally damaging chemical inputs. He criticizes Brazil's agribusiness model, which is based on an economy dependent on more developed countries, and which has its back to the implementation of a national food production policy.
“These cases aren’t uncommon and have already affected other products, such as oranges and meat. In recent decades, Brazil's bet on pinning all its hopes on agribusiness has generated this kind of dependency, making our country vulnerable to catastrophic crises if big importers decide to retaliate against Brazil for some reason,” says Tygel.
“What we are seeing in this circumstance may indeed be a case of pesticide contamination, or some disease, but it could also be a political or economic barrier to Brazilian exports,” says the activist. “In an increasingly challenging geopolitical scenario, the most strategic choice for the country would be to adopt a sovereign agricultural model, focusing on producing healthy food for Brazil, and strengthening ties with Latin America and Africa, diversifying the foreign market and making Brazil less vulnerable to external crises,” concludes Tygel.
Chaib says that the impact of this decision could be measured according to how long the embargo lasts, or even if there are new restrictions on other Brazilian products. “This could affect domestic soybean prices and increase the cost of cattle feed in Brazil, which could make Brazilian beef less competitive on the international market,” says the economist. “But this impact on beef trade will depend on the extent and duration of China's suspension,” she concludes.
Brazil is the largest consumer of pesticides in the world, surpassing China and the United States combined. Instead of discouraging the use of these chemical agents in agricultural production, the Brazilian state offers billions of reals in tax breaks to companies in the country's pesticide market, boosting their use. Since 2012, Brazil has had a National Program for the Reduction of Pesticides (known as Pronara) which, according to civil society organizations, was dismantled by previous governments. Pronara has not yet been resumed by the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party), due to resistance from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Why now?
In an interview with Brasil de Fato, biomedical scientist and researcher at the Osvaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz, in Portuguese) Karen Friedrich draws attention to the harmful effects of intensive pesticide use in agricultural production, in addition to all the evidence of damage to collective health and the environment – and this may have something to do with these commercial “incidents”.
“These substances, which have been used for decades, are causing new pests to emerge because pests become pesticide resistant. It's the same logic as hospital antibiotics. Through indiscriminate use, they developed super-resistant bacteria. And in agriculture, there are pests developing resistance,” said the researcher.
“So, this is not good for farmers and agribusiness. It's good for factories, for Bayer, Basf, Monsanto, Syngenta etc. that want to keep these products on the market until the last minute,” said Friedrich, referring to some of the companies that produce chemical agents that are widely used in Brazilian agriculture, and which are already banned in several other countries due to a proven link with cancer and neurological disorders in humans, as well as being dangerous for the environment. The researcher mentions the case of atrazine, a herbicide that has been banned for more than 20 years in several European Union countries, and is one of the most widely used in Brazilian crops.
In a statement, Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply said that “other units of the notified companies continue to export normally to China. The suspensions only apply to the five officially notified units.” Therefore, according to the ministry, “the volumes traded by Brazil will not be affected as a result of the temporary suspension of five units”.
The ministry also informed that the monitoring of imported products is “part of the inspection routine” adopted in both Brazil and China, adding that it is awaiting the action plans to be adopted by the companies to avoid new occurrences, and expects the Chinese embargo to be lifted soon.
Brasil de Fato asked the ministry about the reason for the embargo, i.e. 'chemical contamination from pesticides used on soy crops by Brazilian agribusiness', but received no reply. The ministry forwarded its official statement.
Brasil de Fato also reached out the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, which has a secretariat for managing foreign trade, and the Brazilian Association of Soybean Producers (Aprosoja, in Portuguese), both of which did not respond.
China is the world's largest consumer of soybeans, accounting for more than 60% of the world's soybean trade. According to the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, the country’s total soybean imports in 2024 exceeded 100 million tons, an increase of 6.5% compared to 2023. Brazilian soy accounted for 54% of Chinese imports, followed by the United States with 38%. Brazil exports two-thirds of its soy to the Asian giant.
Edited by: Dayze Rocha
