Environmental campaign groups have expressed dismay after a number of major soy traders outlined plans to withdraw from the Amazon Soy Moratorium this week.
The voluntary pact has restricted the sale of soybeans grown in deforested areas of the Amazon biome since 2006, with compliance coming into force form 2008, and has helped ensure that around 98% of the soy cultivated in the region is ASM-compliant, according to data published last year by intergovernmental alliance the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership.
Expanding into degraded lands, instead of intact ecosystems, had also allowed continued expansion of the soy industry, NGO Mighty Earth said this week.
But following months of speculation over the moratorium’s future, Brazilian soy trade association Abiove confirmed on Monday it would quit the pact, alongside its membership of major soy traders, including Cargill, Bunge, ADM and Louis Dreyfus.
The move follows the implementation of new legislation in the major soy-producing state of Mato Grosso, which includes the removal of tax breaks for companies adhering to the pact.
Abiove pointed to how companies would now be individually responsible for meeting conservation commitments. But it stressed “the legacy of monitoring and the expertise acquired over nearly 20 years will not be lost”.
However, the move has prompted an angry response from campaigners. Mighty Earth described the ASM as “one of the world’s greatest conservation successes”. It called for major food businesses and retailers to cut ties with those who had walked away from the agreement.
Companies that buy soy, or products that rely on the commodity, “need to fight for” the ASM, Mighty Earth CEO Glenn Hurowitz urged, citing how the likes of McDonald’s, Carrefour, Tesco and Sainsbury’s had spoken out in its defence over the past year.
“So far, too many companies have issued statements expressing support for the Amazon Soy Moratorium and their love of mother nature but have not been willing to exact sufficient commercial consequences to protect it,” he said. “That means cutting off suppliers abandoning the ASM.”
The UK Soy Manifesto, which represents 60% of the UK’s demand for soy and counts the likes of Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Danone and Greggs among its membership, said it was “deeply concerned” over the withdrawal of Abiove and its members.
The group had been “actively engaged with global soy traders and others, calling on all parties to maintain and strengthen the moratorium as a vital safeguard for the Amazon rainforest and the global climate”, said a spokesman.
“This is a complex issue. We are currently reviewing the situation and engaging with UK soy importers and others to fully understand recent events and take stock of the impact on UK supply chains and further actions that we can now take.”
Its comments were echoed by Will Schreiber, a representative of the UK Soy Group, which also counts major retailers and food suppliers among its membership.
Abiove’s “lack of conviction to maintain the most cost-effective and efficient system in the world for protecting this vital ecosystem” was “extremely disappointing”, Schreiber said.
“At a time when we need more coordinated and collective actions that address the legitimate concerns and challenges of land owners and producers, stepping away from the only forum that does this in a coordinated manner in a pre-competitive environment is unhelpful,” he added.
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