February 27, 2007

 

Cargill's Amazon Port faces judicial action in Brazil

 

 

A federal judge in Brazil ordered an immediate inspection of Cargill Agricola's soy export terminal in the Amazon, which now faces the threat of being shut down, the federal prosecutor's office in Para state said in a press release Monday (Feb 26).

 

The court ordered Brazil's environmental protection agency, or Ibama, to investigate whether the US multinational is in compliance with Brazil's environmental laws. Among other things, the company is suspected of buying illegal soy, which is produced by farmers who don't have legal title to their land.

 

The port facility is located in Santarem in the Amazon state of Para, right on the Amazon River.

 

The court sent its decision to Ibama's Santarem office on Monday.

 

Cargill's US press office was unavailable for comment. Cargill is one of the world's leading farm commodity trading companies.

 

Ibama's press office said the agency has 10 days to respond to the court's decision. The agency would be responsible for the final environmental audit.

 

Cargill's terminal in Para has been under pressure for at least the last three years. In 2006, activists from Greenpeace Amazon prohibited the loading and shipping of soybeans they said were grown on recently deforested lands or by farmers who didn't have legal title to their property.

 

Greenpeace International published a report last year called 'Eating the Amazon,' which cited the Cargill terminal as a main driver for illegal soy farming in the Amazon. Shortly after the report was published, McDonald's Corp in the UK banned the purchase of all chickens fed on soymeal made from soybeans grown in the Amazon region.

 

Brazil's soy industry, including Cargill, responded by saying it wouldn't purchase soybeans from farmers who recently deforested to plant soy.

 

Brazil is the world's no. 2 soy producer and exporter behind the US.