European supermarkets boycott Brazilian beef due to deforestation

Five European supermarkets, including Belgium’s Carrefour, and a food processing company announced last Wednesday (15) that they would no longer sell beef of Brazilian origin due to recent complaints indicating a link between the exported product and deforestation indigenous to the country. , such as the Amazon, the Cerrado Mountains, and the Pantanal.

The boycott comes after an investigation he conducted Brazil reporter
and the organization strong earth
Who traced beef from herds raised in deforested areas, bought by other farms for final fattening, sent for slaughter and then sold by major European retailers. As its origin is disguised, meat can reach industries committed to not buying livestock associated with this type of crime.

Some supermarkets, such as Sainsbury, in the UK, are suspending purchases of canned meat from Brazil, while others, such as Carrefour and Delhaize, both in Belgium, have pledged not to sell salty snacks and other Jack-branded products. , associated with the Brazilian JBS, is often responsible for the slaughter of animals.

Wanted by iG And
JBS stated that it “does not tolerate deforestation, forced labour, misuse of indigenous lands and conservation units or violations of environmental embargoes”. The multinational also reported that it has a relationship only with its direct suppliers, while the transaction information of other links in the chain is protected with confidentiality.

a Brazil reporter
Similar situations existed regarding the production chain of Marfrig and Minerva, two other large national industries operating in the meat sector. As for iG, Marfrig said it has “maintained a strict and defined protocol for purchasing the animals, based on the social and environmental standards that its direct suppliers must meet, as well as conducting satellite and real-time monitoring in the Amazon for more than a decade.”

As of the date of publication of this report, Minerva has not yet responded to our inquiries.

Read full company announcements

JBS

“JBS does not tolerate deforestation, forced labour, unwarranted use of indigenous lands or conservation units, or violations of environmental embargoes. In Brazil, the company has maintained, for more than 10 years, a geospatial monitoring system that uses satellite imagery to monitor its suppliers in ensuring this The system is in full compliance with the Company’s Responsible Purchase Policy for Raw Materials and the Protocol of the Federal Public Ministry for Livestock Supplier Control (Boi na Linha).

To date, JBS has proactively banned more than 14,000 supplier farms for non-compliance with our policies and standards, and we will continue to take additional action as necessary. Therefore, all products shipped from JBS in Brazil to affiliates and international customers, as well as products produced globally in our processing facilities, are manufactured strictly according to the above protocols.

The challenge for JBS, as well as for the animal production chain in general, is to ensure the same control over the suppliers of its suppliers. This is because protein companies, such as JBS, have relationships only with their direct suppliers, while transaction information from other links in the chain is protected with secrecy. To specifically overcome this sectoral challenge and achieve a supply chain completely free of illegal deforestation by 2025, JBS is making significant investments in a new platform that uses blockchain technology. This platform is being implemented, by 2025, on schedule. By allowing us to expand our supplier due diligence, we are ensuring high JBS standards in all links in our supply chain.

In its report, Repórter Brasil mentioned 5 of JBS’s 77,000 suppliers. With respect to these five cases, after careful scrutiny, our sustainability team found, at the time of purchase, that they were in compliance with the JBS Responsible Procurement Policy and the Department of Public Livestock Supplier Control Protocol federation. “

Marfrig

See also Unplugging these appliances from the socket will save on your electricity bill
“Marfrig explains that it has had a general commitment to combating deforestation in the Amazon biome since 2009 – and is developing several concrete actions in this regard. The company maintains a strict and specific animal procurement protocol, based on social and environmental standards applied by its suppliers. Direct services must be met , in addition to implementing real-time satellite monitoring in the Amazon for more than a decade.

In order to monitor indirect suppliers, the company launched in mid-2020 the Marfrig Verde+ plan, which aims to track 100% of its chain in the Amazon through 2025, and 2030 for other biomes. To date, more than 60% of the Marfrig value chain has been mapped in the Amazon biome and 47% in the Cerrado biome. There has also been a settlement and re-listing of more than 1,000 suppliers on the company’s registry, among other developments.

Finally, Marfrig recognizes its role in the context of the sustainable development of its activities and affirms that it is fully committed to social and environmental issues and to the development of solutions that integrate its chain and bring greater transparency to its operations.”