🌾 Suing for soy

IN THIS ISSUE

• Agribusiness in Mato Grosso pushes back even harder against Soy Moratorium

• Pro-Bolsonaro caucus seeks reprieve for coup-plotting lawmaker

• And AI hype takes over the last day of Web Summit Rio

Farmers continue to chip away at conservation frameworks

Brazilian soybean farmers are suing major traders behind the Soy Moratorium, seeking financial compensation for alleged losses tied to the 2006 voluntary pact that halts the purchase of soybeans grown in Amazon areas deforested after 2008. The suit marks the latest escalation against Brazil’s most prominent private-sector conservation initiative.

Driving the news. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Aprosoja MT, a powerful soybean lobby in the largely agricultural state of Mato Grosso. It targets industry associations Abiove and Anec, along with dozens of signatory companies including Bunge, Cofco, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus.

Timing. The legal action came just one day after Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino ruled in an injunction that Brazilian states can enact legislation barring companies that signed the Soy Moratorium from accessing tax benefits. The ruling centered on a Mato Grosso law, mirrored by the neighboring state of Rondônia, with other Amazon states considering similar measures.

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