Major setback for Amazon protection: Mato Grosso ends incentives for soybean moratorium

In Brazil, a historic agreement that has significantly contributed to reducing deforestation in the Amazon region is at risk of losing its importance. The state of Mato Grosso, the country’s largest soy producer, recently passed a law that abolishes incentives for companies participating in agreements to limit agriculture to legally deforested areas. The law, enacted last week, aims to annul the soy moratorium. This agreement, initiated in 2006, was a response to a Greenpeace investigation revealing that illegally deforested land was being used for soy production by major U.S. commodity corporations. At the time, companies such as Cargill, Bunge, and ADM committed to not purchasing soy from areas cleared after 2008. Various studies in recent years have demonstrated that the moratorium has contributed to the conservation of the Amazon. According to a 2020 study published in the journal Nature Food, the agreement significantly contributed to the most pronounced reduction in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from 2003 to 2016. Supported by soybean farmers as well as most legislators and mayors from Mato Grosso, the new law reduces tax benefits for companies participating in agreements that restrict agricultural expansion in legally deforestable areas. Governor Mauro Mendes signed the law on October 24, and it will come into effect on January 1, 2025, with specific regulations still pending. The legislation states that only the illegally deforested portion of a property will be excluded from sales. However, experts warn that such precise monitoring is hardly feasible technically. In contrast, the moratorium entirely prohibits the sale of products from land cleared after 2008, regardless of whether the deforestation was legal. Proponents of the new law criticize that the 2008 cut-off date set by the moratorium is stricter than Brazilian law, which allows deforestation of up to 20% of a large rural property in the Amazon. Lucas Costa Beber, president of the Mato Grosso soy producers, emphasized that they will not rest until the moratorium no longer harms any producers. Environmental organizations and the association of leading soy trading and processing companies reject the move in Mato Grosso. "The law represents a step backward," said Bernardo Pires, sustainability director of the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove), which supports the moratorium. "Companies committed to sustainability should receive double the advantages, rather than losing them.