External environmental demands broaden legal dispute

The intensification of external demands to prove the absence of environmental damage in production has reignited a legal debate about regulatory limits. The evaluation of experts points out that standards imposed by large private agents can create obligations that exceed legislation and interfere with the economic order. "These private agreements transfer to the producer the burden of continuously proving that they do not cause environmental damage, inverting the presumption of legality and good faith of those who comply with the Forest Code and other regulations," explains the lawyer specializing in Agrarian and Agribusiness Law, Márcia de Alcântara, from the law firm Celso Cândido de Souza Advogados. The issue also involves potential competitive effects, as the coordination between trading companies gathered in associations can result in the application of stricter criteria than those provided by law and in the exchange of sensitive information. There are also reports of ...