Brazil’s soy sustainability agreement threatened by antitrust investigation

practices. The voluntary soy moratorium, in effect since 2008, prohibits sourcing soy grown on land deforested after 2006. According to environmentalists, the moratorium reduced the share of new soy plantations on cleared land from 30% to 4% by July 2025, even as Brazil tripled its soy output. Environmental groups call the agreement “the world’s most successful policy to combat deforestation.” However, the moratorium’s future is now at risk. The CADE investigation was initiated after a complaint filed by the Brazilian lower house’s Agriculture Committee, whose members are closely linked to powerful farming interests. If the courts side with the antitrust authority, companies will no longer be able to coordinate landscape-level efforts to prevent deforestation, and each firm will have to act solely within its own supply chain, leading to duplicated efforts and reduced territorial coverage. In addition, a new law in Mato Grosso state removes tax incentives for companies ...