Environmental groups condemn new laws threatening soybean restrictions in Brazil's Amazon
Dozens of environmental nonprofits issued a manifesto Thursday condemning new laws in Brazilian states that threaten to dismantle the Amazon soy moratorium
BRASILIA, Brazil — Dozens of environmental nonprofits issued a manifesto Thursday condemning new laws in Brazilian states that threaten to dismantle the Amazon soy moratorium — a landmark voluntary agreement banning trade in soybeans from recently deforested areas.
The 18-year-old moratorium stipulates that traders and oil producers refrain from buying soybeans grown on land cleared after 2008. The deal gathered strange bedfellows, ranging from environmental groups Greenpeace and WWF to U.S. commodity giants Cargill, Bunge and ADM.
However, new laws recently enacted in the Amazon states of Mato Grosso, Brazil’s largest soybean producer, and neighboring Rondonia have cut tax incentives for processing and trade companies that adhere to the agreement. Two other states and Brazil´s Congress are weighing similar legislation.
“This means penalizing companies committed to ending deforestation, promoting the continued expansion of agribusiness in Amazon forest areas, creating subsidies for deforestation and discriminating against the granting of tax incentives based on companies’ environmental commitment," Thursday's declaration stated.
«Therefore, those who are more ambitious in environmental protection lose the incentive,” said the manifesto whose 67 signers include Greenpeace, WWF and Climate Observatory, a network of 119 organizations watching federal climate policy in Brazil.
The document argues soybean production grew exponentially in the Amazon under the moratorium as it expanded into pasture land. Its area jumped from 1.6 million hectares (4 million acres) in 2007
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