International grain trading firms operating in Brazil will vote next week on changes that could weaken an agreement to not buy soybeans from deforested areas of the Amazon rainforest, The Guardian newspaper reported. Soy traders including ADM, Cargill, Cofco and Bunge signed up for the “Amazon soy moratorium” in the mid-2000s, pledging to stop buying soy from farms in the Brazilian rainforest that were deforested from 2008 onward. The moratorium bars soy purchases from a farm if it includes recently deforested areas. But traders are looking at distinguishing between individual fields, letting growers export from one part of a farm while planting soybean on newly deforested areas nearby, The Guardian reported.
Abiove, which represents those trading firms and all major soy purchasers in Brazil, said it was holding discussions on the moratorium, but did not confirm details of any vote or proposal. In its statement to Reuters, Abiove noted Brazilian state lawmakers are pushing legislation “that significantly harm the signatories of the Soy Moratorium.” Abiove said it defends the soy moratorium while “striving to balance the demands of both farmers and consumers, including updates to the current model to ensure its effectiveness.”
