In light of this development, we call on:
1. International soy traders to publicly reaffirm and maintain their commitments to the 2008 cut-off date for all soy purchases — direct and indirect — in the Amazon biome and put in place effective measures to comply with the criteria of the Moratorium on an individual company basis until a longer-term, stable solution is secured.
2. All stakeholders across the soy supply chain — including governments, financial institutions, farmer representatives, buyers of soy and civil society— to engage in constructive dialogue to develop solutions that ensure that theachievements of the past 19 years are preserved and strengthened.
For nearly two decades, the Moratorium has demonstrated that agricultural growth and environmental protection can go hand in hand. It has helped safeguard forests while supporting Brazil’s soy sector to expand and remain competitive in international markets.
In recent years the Moratorium has been facing mounting pressures including an on-going investigation by the Brazilian competition authority (CADE) into allegations that the Moratorium in its current form violates anti-trust regulations. New legislation in Mato Grosso state effective from 1st January this year has removed tax subsidies for companies participating in voluntary agreements such as the Moratorium that go beyond national environmental laws. The withdrawal of global traders and their representative body ABIOVE from the Moratorium has major implications for the future of this voluntary industry agreement.
The Moratorium is an iconic environmental agreement. Estimates show that in its first decade of implementation alone, the Moratorium saved at least 1.8 million hectares of Amazonian forest, an area nearly half the size of the Netherlands[1]. By redirecting expansion towards already converted land, the agreement protected forests while supporting soy cultivation, which has grown fourfold in the region according to ABIOVE[2]. Without the Moratorium, more forests could beat risk, directly and indirectly, from deforestation.
Climate change is already impacting on the Amazon and Cerrado with extreme weather events and reduced rainfall[3]. The protection of forests and savannah vegetation in these biomes is critical to maintaining the necessary growing conditions that support long term sustainable soy production and farmer livelihoods in Brazil, as well as being a significant contributor to global efforts to mitigate climate change.
Clear and immediate actions are essential to safeguard supply chain stability and maintain the long-standing progress made in protecting the Amazon.
Signatories:
- Danish Alliance for Responsible Soy
- Donau Soja
- Dutch Soy Platform Members
- Ethical Trade Norway
- Ethical Trade Sweden (host organisation of the Swedish Platform on Risk Commodities)
- Soy Network Switzerland
- UK Soy Manifesto
[1]https://gibbs-lab.wisc.edu/assets/Brazil_s_Amazon_Soy_Moratorium_reduced_deforestation.pdf
[2]https://abiove.org.br/abiove_content/Abiove/Report-of-Soy-Moratorium_2022-23.pdf
[3]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X21001972;
https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/insights/briefings/deforestation-in-brazils-cerrado-reduces-soy-production-and-threatens-supply-chains/