Sunday, October 23, 2011

World's largest beef company breaks commitment on avoiding Amazon deforestation

Mongabay: In a campaign launched in Italy on Wednesday, Greenpeace accused Brazilian beef giant JBS-Friboi of breaking its commitment to exclude cattle connected with illegal deforestation and slave labor from its supply chain.

Greenpeace says it has uncovered evidence of JBS breaking its 2009 commitment on responsible cattle sourcing. The agreement signed by JBS commits it to avoid buying cattle from properties that have been blacklisted by the Labor Ministry, embargoed by Brazil's environmental protection agency IBAMA, or are situated within indigenous territories.

Greenpeace says the discovery "demonstrates weaknesses in the supply chain for responsible leather and meat products."

"Consumers buying products originating from JBS’ supply chain cannot be assured their products are responsibly sourced, meaning not contributing to deforestation and slave labour," said Greenpeace in Broken Promises: How the cattle industry in the Amazon is still connected to deforestation, slave labour and invasion of indigenous land [PDF], a report launched as part of the campaign.

Greenpeace is calling upon JBS to honor its commitment under the 2009 Cattle Agreement signed by other cattle majors....

Mechanical milking in the Minas Gerais, shot by Andrevruas, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

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