Brazil's Soy Moratorium Under Legal Scrutiny

Brazil's antitrust agency CADE is reviewing an appeal against suspending the soy moratorium program, credited with reducing deforestation in the Amazon. The program's suspension raises legal and environmental concerns, dividing grain traders and environmental groups as they await the tribunal's decision on its future legality.

Brazil's antitrust agency CADE is set to commence a review of an appeal by the oilseeds lobby Abiove and grain traders like Cargill and Bunge, challenging the suspension of the soy moratorium program. This review follows a notice published in the official gazette, which announced that the six commissioners will start voting on September 30.

The soy moratorium, a corporate pact aiming to curb deforestation in the Amazon by barring some 30 firms from buying soybeans from certain farmers, faces a legal battle. CADE General Superintendent Alexandre Barreto de Souza had ordered the suspension of the program citing potential breaches of Brazilian competition law and concerns of shared commercially sensitive information among companies.

The decision has resulted in a division; farm groups such as Aprosoja Mato Grosso welcomed the suspension, deeming the agreement as unfair to some farmers, while environmental groups and government entities criticized it. Abiove managed to secure a court injunction to block CADE’s decision, pending a final ruling by the tribunal.