Contact with farmers involved in deforestation on the Amazon threatens the circulation of JPS and morphic products in the UK.
British supermarkets are selling products of companies involved in illegal deforestation in Brazil, which may be suppliers of large companies such as JBS and Marfrig, in an investigation conducted in conjunction with the Bureau of Business Green website for business journalism. Retail chains, now, are trying to separate themselves from companies.
“We are in talks with our supplier to make sure there are no JBS Brazilian beef in any of the newly purchased registered products until the end of 2021,” said a spokesman for Asta, a British supermarket chain with more than 600 stores.
Other networks, such as Chainsbury, are threatening to boycott the products of Brazilian companies involved in illegal deforestation on the Amazon.
The results of an investigation conducted in conjunction with Repórter Brasil have raised serious questions about the effectiveness and oversight of the Brazilian embargo and undermine the “zero deforestation” allegations of multinational meat companies and their international clients.
These restrictions, imposed by Ibama, include fines on landowners and the recovery of illegally deforested areas.
The report points out that Brazilian beef giants bought cattle from Willimar Pisoni, which has been linked to repeated deforestation cases, resulting in several bans imposed in the state of Mato Grosso.
Records show that in 15 months in 2018 and 2019, JBS and Morphric bought about 1000 cattle from BBC. Pissoni owns a company with an equity stake in the agribusiness business.
JBS does not deny doing business with Wilmer Pisoni. However, “it does not tolerate illegal deforestation in the Amazon or other biosphere,” he said.
Morphric confirmed that Pissoni was already a supplier to its butcheries, but the manufacturer said it was no longer on its supplier list. The company said it was “fully compliant” with its supplier rules during farmer transactions.
According to Business Green, the UK government is making rules to ban the sale of raw materials related to illegal deforestation overseas, although activists argue that all deforestation, whether considered illegal or not, should be banned under local rules.
* Featured Image: Maricilda Group / Amazon Watch / Amazonia Real
