Supermarket suppliers 'helping destroy Amazon rainforest'

David Adam, guardian.co.uk 21 Jun 09;
• Meat companies sued over Amazon deforestation
• Accused firms supplying Tesco, Asda and M&S

Brazilian authorities investigating illegal deforestation have accused the suppliers of several UK supermarkets of selling meat linked to massive destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian firms that supply Tesco, Asda and Marks & Spencer are among dozens of companies named by prosecutors, who are seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation.

The move follows a three-year investigation by Greenpeace into the trade in cattle products such as meat and leather traced to illegal farms across the Amazon region. The Greenpeace report, revealed in the Guardian earlier this month, showed that a handful of major Brazilian processors exported products linked to Amazon destruction to dozens of blue-chip companies across the world. Daniel Cesar Avelino, the public prosecutor handling the cases, brought by Brazil's Federal Public Prosecution Office (MPF), said: "We know that the single biggest driver of deforestation in the Amazon is cattle. We want all companies who are part of this destructive economic chain to be responsible for their economic crimes."

The MPF has started legal action against 21 farms and slaughterhouse companies, including Bertin, which supplies Tesco and Princes Food with processed beef. The MPF said the investigated Brazilian companies could be to blame for illegal deforestation across 150,000 hectares. It is seeking £630m compensation for "environmental crimes against Brazilian society". The accused farms include the Espirito Santo farm in Para state, which the Guardian visited in an undercover investigation with Greenpeace last month. Bertin said it was "analysing the content of the [legal] action to respond later". The MPF has also warned a further 69 firms for buying products associated with illegal deforestation, including JBS, which supplies Princes Foods, Asda and Marks and Spencer.

Bertin and JBS, the Greenpeace report said, source cattle from illegal farms, and ship the beef and hides to facilities in the south of Brazil for export. Greenpeace claims records show that cattle from hundreds of farms across the Amazon are mixed and processed in this way, making it currently impossible to trace the origins of products.

"In effect, criminal or 'dirty' supplies of cattle are 'laundered' through the supply chain." JBS would not comment. Several supermarkets in Brazil, including ­Wal-Mart, have already banned beef from deforested areas. The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets said it would cancel supply contracts with accused farms. John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace, said: "Major supermarkets in Brazil have promised action to remove Amazon beef and leather from their stores, and now it's time that UK companies did the same … we need to see British firms cancelling contracts with suppliers who are implicated in Amazon deforestation."

The UK supermarkets said the beef did not come from the Amazon. Tesco and Marks and Spencer said they had received assurances from their suppliers. Asda said it was sending people to Brazil to audit the supply line.

Princes Foods said: "We have contacted both suppliers to discuss the claims in detail, and they are liaising directly with Greenpeace. We will monitor the outcome of these discussions closely."

In a separate move, the World Bank said it will withdraw a $90m (£54.47m) loan to Bertin from its private lending arm, which Greenpeace says was used to expand activities in the Amazon. Bertin supplies several companies with leather for shoes, including Nike and Timberland.

A Timberland spokesman said it was "actively engaged with Bertin to better understand this very complex issue". Nike said it was meeting its tannery suppliers and investigating the supply chain. Greenpeace wants companies to refuse to buy products sourced from farms that have carried out illegal deforestation. It wants consumers to pressure supermarkets and high-street brands identified in the report to clean up supply chains.

Clearing tropical forests for agriculture is estimated to produce 17% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions – more than the global transport system. Cattle farming is now the biggest threat to the remaining Amazon rainforest, a fifth of which has been lost since 1970. The Greenpeace report compiles government records, company documents and trade data from Brazil, China, Europe, Vietnam and the US to piece together the global movement of meat, leather and cosmetics ingredients made from Brazilian cattle.