Soy under lens in Amazon deforestation

17 June 2008 19:22  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Brazilian soy buyers on Tuesday signed an accord with the federal government intended to keep pressure on the illicit trade of the commodity from deforested areas of the Amazon rainforest.

The deal comes amid global concern that skyrocketing food prices, in part fuelled by biofuels production, will lead to degradation of the environment. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has insisted that production of biofuels will not infringe upon the Amazon rainforest.

Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc lauded the agreement, calling it an extension of the country’s Amazon “soy moratorium”. The group of soy industry members represents 94% of the product sold in the country.

In July 2006, the group agreed to stop purchasing soy from deforested areas.

Brazil is the world's second largest producer of soy beans. Given its vast areas of arable land and low-cost labour pool compared with developed countries, the country is a rising producer of biodiesel.

The South American country is already the world’s largest exporter of ethanol, primarily from sugar cane, as well as the world’s second largest producer after the US.

Bookmark Simon Robinson’s Big Biofuels Blog for some independent thinking on biofuels
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By: John Waggoner
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