JBS Sues Greenpeace over Deforestation Allegations

BRAZIL - Earlier this week, Greenpeace accused JBS of backing out of its promise to no longer buy cattle from farms linked to Amazon deforestation. JBS Brazil has said it will take legal action against Greenpeace and will look to repair the material damage caused to the image of the company through the disclosure of what it says is incorrect information.

8 June 2012

2 minute read

South America

In 2009, JBS and other Brazilian meat packers signed an accord promising not to purchase cattle raised on deforested pastures.

This week, Greenpeace said that through researching JBS’s business practices, Greenpeace has found, once again, numerous new cases of JBS purchasing cattle directly and indirectly from farms involved in illegal deforestation, invasion of protected areas and indigenous lands, and also of farms using slave labour.

Greenpeace claims that contaminated beef is still entering the supply chain of major companies in the EU and Brazil.

Greenpeace also criticised the Brazilian government for doing little to address the problem or even implement existing laws to protect the forest and its people.

In a statement, JBS said: "The information regarding JBS in the report is false, misleading, incorrect and induces the public to draw erroneous conclusions regarding the reality of the facts."

JBS said that the report from Greenpeace was a shock to them, especially considering the investment and time the company was putting into sustainable practices in Brazil.

Following on from the report which lists supposed violations, JBS has published responses for each accusation, which can be found here.

JBS has not said how much compensation they are looking for, but JBS's Mercosur Regional President Jose Augusto de Carvalho said at a meeting earlier this week, that the company had so far not received any contract cancellations.

The Greenpeace report accuses JBS of purchasing cattle from farms that are still illegally involved with deforestation, however JBS said that all of the farms that they purchase cattle from are approved by IBAMA, Brazil's environmental regulator.