The UK could become a “dumping ground” for soy linked to intensive deforestation as new environmental legislation lags behind EU efforts, campaigners have warned.
Activists have raised concerns that companies sourcing soy in the Cerrado region of Brazil, which is notorious for intensive logging, could start shifting export volumes from the EU to UK due to weaker regulation.
The government is soon expected to introduce new legislation to the Environment Act 2021 to make it harder for businesses operating in the UK to trade commodities that have been grown on illegally deforested or occupied land.
Businesses in scope will also be required to increase supply chain due diligence processes and report on them or risk fines.
However, agrifood campaigners Mighty Earth have claimed the added layer of regulatory protection still lags behind the new European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which comes into force later this month and covers both illegal and legal deforestation for imports of several forest-risk commodities including soy, paper and palm oil.
“The UK could become a dumping ground for soy grown on deforested land, classified as legal under Brazilian law, but which is not permitted to enter European markets when the EUDR comes into force next year,” a new Mighty Earth report looking at soy supply chains in the Brazilian Cerrado has warned.
Experts have previously warned the EU’s strict new regulation could see volumes of these commodities be exported to other countries where regulatory demand is weaker.
Mighty Earth’s CEO Glenn Hurowitz said the UK’s Environment Act “needs to match the ambition of the EU’s zero-deforestation law if we’re to stand any chance of saving the Cerrado and mitigating climate change”.
“Two years ago, at COP26 in Glasgow, the UK played a key role in helping to galvanise global support for a ground-breaking deal to save the world’s forests, but this legacy is being undermined by weak UK legislation.”
The group is calling for the Environment Act 2021 to cover both illegal and legal deforestation and for secondary legislation to apply to all natural ecosystems, such as the Cerrado savannah.
In the EU, an upcoming review of the EUDR is expected to widen its scope to other wooded land to protect biomes such as the Cerrado, the world’s largest soy producing region.
The UK imports over three million metric tons of soy each year, according to the Stockholm Environment Institute, with the majority of it coming from just three different countries – Brazil, Argentina and the US.
Some 90% of the UK’s soy imports are used for animal feed to produce meat and dairy, particularly for poultry and pork production.
Read more: How will the EU’s deforestation law affect UK commodity markets?
“As a climate champion and global leader on protecting the world’s forests and nature, the UK should urgently legislate to ensure it doesn’t become a dumping ground for deforestation-linked soy that’s been grown in threatened biomes like the Cerrado in Brazil, where up to 80% of the land can be ‘legally’ deforested under local laws,” said Mighty Earth’s senior director Alex Wijeratna.
Deforestation in the threatened Cerrado savannah has recently hit a record high of 353,200 hectares between January and May 2023.
Mass soy production has been historically linked to the degradation of such key ecosystems, but full traceability has proven hard because of how fragmented the supply chains there are.
A practice known as grain laundering sees grains produced in legal areas often mixed with other illegally harvested soy before being exported to other countries.
Mighty Earth’s new report published on Wednesday has highlighted the links between illegally deforestation practices in Brazil and meat and dairy sold in major European retailers.
The group has named US commodities trader Bunge – which supplies UK retailers including Sainsbury’s – as one of the companies buying soy from deforested areas.
Some of mainland Europe’s top supermarkets including Carrefour and Casino in France, Aldi Süd in Germany, and Ahold Delhaize in the Netherlands have launched investigations into the American grains giant in response to the report. One of France’s biggest pork producers, Cooperl, has dropped Bunge from its supply chains.
Bunge said in response to the report: “We are aligned with Mighty Earth that deforestation is a critical concern. As described in our most recent Corporate Sustainability Report, we devote considerable effort and resources to ensuring that we promote sustainable agriculture, disincentivise native vegetation conversion, and promote the uptake of certified products that guarantee no deforestation or vegetation conversion.
“Since we established our non-deforestation commitment in 2015, we have developed the industry’s most expansive and transparent system of traceability and monitoring, giving us unprecedented insight into our supply chain and strengthening relationships with our suppliers. As a result of our efforts, over 97% of our soybean volumes from Brazil are deforestation and conversion-free.”
Read more: Businesses must prepare for new EU deforestation regulations
The company added all farms that were identified as having cleared land were investigated and undergoing a due diligence process.
“Failure to engage with Bunge during the due diligence process results in the farm being blocked,” Bunge said.
The report follows a recent investigation by Mighty Earth linking chicken and pork products sold in Tesco to alleged illegal deforestation to grow soy in the Amazon.
Mighty Earth senior director Gemma Hoskins said British supermarkets and meat producers were “getting close to having to drop egregious suppliers such as Bunge or Cargill”.
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