On November 16, 2023, Reuters published a story on the Traceability of Cattle Free from Deforestation, with reporting by Ana Mano and editing by Jake Spring and Barbara Lewis . See below for the content of the report or the full article.
Brazilian Companies Track Amazon Cattle to Eliminate Origin from Deforestation Areas
SAO PAULO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A group of Brazilian companies announced on Thursday a scheme to certify that cattle from the Amazon region processed for meat and leather were raised without causing deforestation.
The group has not yet included the largest slaughterhouses and so far the initiative covers a small fraction of Brazil's 234 million cattle herd, but it is a step towards allowing consumers to make informed choices when buying products.
The Certification of Origin and Traceability Implementation Initiative (COTI) places tracking devices on each animal. So far, more than 113,000 animals have been traced since the pilot began in the second half of the year, the companies said in a statement.
They expect to be tracking more than 200,000 animals by mid-January.
One of the five companies involved in the initiative, leather manufacturer Durli Leathers, said it can monitor its entire supply chain.
"Soon, our European customers will be able to enter a code on a platform and have access to all the information about the animal that generated this product," said Ivens Domingos, sustainability manager at Durli Leathers.
European governments have sought to lead on climate issues and, although economic and political considerations have slowed progress, the pressure is high for sustainability after a year of record temperatures, droughts, forest fires and floods.
In the Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, 9,001 square kilometers were deforested in the 12 months to July.
Thursday's statement, citing government data, said that around 40% of Brazilian beef production comes from nine states in the region around the Amazon.
Grazing for cattle is the most common initial use for deforested areas in the Amazon and the neighboring Cerrado, a practice that faces strict legal limits but continues illegally.
The situation jeopardizes Brazil's climate commitments to end deforestation by 2030 and threatens exports of commodities such as beef and leather to environmentally conscious importers.
Pará, the Brazilian state with the highest levels of deforestation, is where the tracking initiative began. According to Roberto Paulinelli, director of Frigorífico Rio Maria, another company in the group, the initiative can be replicated elsewhere.
The initiative also includes the environmental services companies Niceplanet Assessoria, SBCert and Green Level Environment Strategy.