Brazil Court Shuts Down US Soy Giant Cargill for Destroying Amazon
Written by Newsroom
Tuesday, 27 March 2007
Brazil's Environmental Agency IBAMA has shut down a huge soy processing and shipping facility erected in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Environmental organization Greenpeace accuses the facility of being built illegally. The place will stay closed while Brazilian environmental authorities assess its ecological impact.
The facility, built by Minneapolis-based, US commodity giant Cargill in Santarém, in the northern state of Pará, has been at the center of a controversy after Greenpeace discovered that huge tracts of the Amazon were being destroyed to grow soy. which is shipped from the facility to Europe, to provide cheap feed for chicken which is then sold in fast food outlets and supermarkets.
The development is result of a request by the Federal Ministry of Public Prosecution (MPF) to "inspect and immediately stop the operations of Cargill port as well as condemn the north-American multinational for illegal operation". The Regional Federal Court (TRF, in Portuguese) confirmed the decision.
The TRF Judge Souza Prudente ordered the complete fulfillment of the decision made in 2000, which suspended all permits issued for Cargill port in Santarém. The port does not comply with the Brazilian laws which demand Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA) for this kind of venture.
According to the MPF: "the judicial order ends the multinational's assumption of non complying with the injunction, hinder its activities in the region and ensure that the Environmental Impact Assessment to be carried out in order to have the port functioning."
According to the Federal Prosecutor in Santarém, Felipe Friz Braga, "this is a historical decision and it changes the pattern of lack of governance in the region."
The suspension of Cargill port activities in Santarém is the culmination of many years of demands by the local communities in Santarém and those who fight the expansion of soy in the Amazon. Soy and other products from the agribusiness are key drivers for deforestation, threatening huge loss of biodiversity and contributing to climate change.
"This is an important day for the Amazon rainforest and for its people. Thanks to the non-stop efforts of the Federal Ministry of Public Prosecution in Pará State, a big step forward has been taken in enforcing the responsible use of natural resources and bringing greater governance in the Amazon", said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon Campaign Coordinator in Brazil.
http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/8081/54/http://www.greenpeace.org.uk.nyud.net:8090/files/images/migrated/MultimediaFiles/Live/Image/7681.jpg