Brasilia - According to an audit released Wednesday, slaughterhouses agreed that a settlement with Brazilian prosecutors would be more likely to obey environmental laws prohibiting the purchase of cattle from illegal deforestation, but the gap in oversight means that much of Amazon’s beef supply chain is linked to forest destruction.

Companies that hired independent auditors as part of the agreement with the Federal Bureau of Prosecutions received 4% of cattle from illegally liquidated areas. Companies that did not hire auditors recorded a 52% non-compliance rate, 13 times higher.

"It conveys a clear message to the market and consumers about which companies really invest in responsible and transparent production," prosecutor Ricardo Negrini said in a statement.

The most cleared land in the Amazon is transformed into pastures. Para's capital, Belem, will host UN climate negotiations this year, home to 25 million cattle. It is also the Brazilian country with the most carbon emissions, as deforestation accounts for about half of the country's total output.

The Amazon rainforest is an important regulator of the climate because trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that heats the planet. Cattle-raising forests cause two problems with emissions: the trees are lost, and cattle, especially cattle, also helps global warming because they release another greenhouse gas methane.

Brazil consumes most of its beef production, but exports are growing. China is by far the largest buyer, followed by the United States

The audit was part of a settlement reached in 2009. Formerly known as the Legal Beef Behavior Adjustment Agreement, it aims to prevent companies from buying cattle raised in Amazon’s illegal deforestation areas. It has technical support from civil organizations such as Imaflora and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The agreement was originally implemented in Para state and now includes five other Amazon states. The cattle purchase audit conducted in 2022 was conducted in 89 slaughterhouse units, including major companies such as JBS, Minerva and Marfrig.

However, these reviews will only check for direct purchases, and ignore the wide range of cattle laundry in Amazon. The most common method is to transfer cows from illegal areas to legal farms and then sell them to slaughterhouses, intentionally muddy traceability.

Negrini said the problem has been exacerbated as cattle ranchers discovered that direct purchases have been monitored more strictly since the settlement.

Preliminary data in the report show that only 38% of indirect suppliers of slaughterhouses are indeed compliant. To reach this number, prosecutors examined the transfer documents issued by the state animal health agency.

"Some slaughterhouses have as many as six indirect suppliers behind each direct slaughterhouse. This is an important part of the supply chain that still lacks proper monitoring," said Camila Trigueiro, a researcher at BELEM-based nonprofit iMazon. "The Federal Bureau of Prosecution must act urgently to deal with these producers."

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