Decision could make soy a driver of Amazon deforestation again, experts warn; farmers celebrate ruling.
The decision by Brazil’s watchdog agency CADE to suspend the Soy Moratorium and investigate the companies involved has triggered controversy in the agribusiness sector and raised concerns over the potential damage to the global reputation of Brazilian soy.
Under the moratorium, 30 companies had pledged not to buy soy from areas in the Amazon deforested after 2008, in an agreement signed with civil society organizations.
The Brazilian Agribusiness Association (ABAG), which represents major agribusiness players, expressed concern over CADE’s decision. “Without a doubt, this will hurt our image. Even if the legal reasoning around competition has merit, the perception abroad is that Brazil is soft on deforestation, which isn’t true,” said Ingo Plöger, ABAG’s vice president, during a Bayer climate change workshop.
Mr. Plöger said the ruling comes at a “bad moment,” citing preparations for COP30 in Belém and growing international pressure on Brazil’s environmental policies.
“We need better agreements among stakeholders, especially now, in a highly delicate geopolitical moment, where this will be used against us,” he added. “The U.S. is already accusing us of deforesting—and now we’re reinforcing that narrative ourselves.”
Soy producers, on the other hand, celebrated the CADE’s decision, downplaying potential commercial risks. Maurício Buffon, president of Aprosoja Brasil, argued that soy grown in the Amazon after 2008 was already being sold through indirect channels.
“There was never unsold soy in the market. There was always some kind of triangulation — going through other companies, cooperatives, or traders — and the product ended up being exported anyway,”
Mr. Buffon said.
At the Ministry of Agriculture, the decision was well-received. Guilherme Campos, the ministry’s secretary of agricultural policy, said at a Santander event that the impact would be limited. “International buyers will always find ways to hold Brazil back a bit,” he said.
The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, however, expressed “serious concern” over the CADE’s move, emphasizing that the moratorium delivered “undeniable environmental protection results.”
The ministry said in a note that “the longevity of the agreement demonstrates its success and does not, on its own, provide grounds to classify it as a purchasing cartel that would justify preventive measures.”
The ministry highlighted data showing that between 2006 and 2023, the soy-planted area in the Amazon biome expanded 427% without triggering new deforestation. Across the rest of Brazil, soy area grew 115% over the same period, while 97.6% of deforestation recorded was unrelated to soy farming.
Civil society organizations warned that suspending the moratorium risks undermining Brazil’s environmental credibility abroad.
“Ending the agreement damages the reputation of Brazilian soy and increases distrust in the international market,”
said Mauricio Voivodic, WWF-Brazil’s executive director.
Cristiane Mazzetti, Greenpeace’s forest coordinator, was even more direct:
“Dismantling such an effective agreement in the name of unrestricted deforestation is shooting ourselves in the foot,” she said. “Without the Soy Moratorium, soy risks becoming a major driver of Amazon deforestation again — and it jeopardizes any chance of Brazil meeting its climate commitments.”
Source: Valor International
