Brazil audit finds 32% of JBS cattle in Amazon state from 'irregular' farms

Nearly a third of the cattle bought by JBS SA in the Brazilian Amazon state of Para came from ranches with "irregularities" such as illegal deforestation, prosecutors found in a 2020 audit of the world's largest meatpacker released on Thursday.

Nearly a third of the cattle bought by JBS SA in the Brazilian Amazon state of Para came from ranches with "irregularities" such as illegal deforestation, prosecutors found in a 2020 audit of the world's largest meatpacker released on Thursday. In a presentation, federal prosecutors said they were "negotiating improvements" with companies such as JBS with "unsatisfactory and worsening" performance in the audit, which analyzed cattle transactions between January 2018 and June 2019.

JBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The findings add to growing concerns that JBS contributes to deforestation of the world's largest rainforest by buying cattle from illegally cleared land in the Amazon, which is a crucial bulwark against climate change.

Faced with those accusations, JBS reached a settlement with prosecutors in 2013 in which the company agreed not to buy cattle from ranches that were cleared illegally since 2008 or otherwise blacklisted for environmental crimes. The company also agreed in that settlement to stop buying cattle from ranchers blacklisted for engaging in slave labor, occupying indigenous land and violating environmental preserves.

Prosecutors monitoring that agreement in Para state found JBS had improved its compliance in a 2019 audit, when 8% of cattle bought by the company came from ranches with "irregularities," down from 19% in a 2018 audit. However, that ratio jumped to 32% ‒ or more than 300,000 head of cattle ‒ in the 2020 audit presented on Thursday.

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