The third cycle of consolidated audits of the Legal Meat Programme has concluded with significant progress in monitoring the livestock supply chain. The process has assessed purchases of cattle intended for slaughter or export made between 2023 and 2024 in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia and Tocantins.
The results of this cycle were presented in Cuiabá (Mato Grosso, Brazil), with the support of AL-INVEST Verde, following a capacity-building workshop aimed at the Brazilian Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF). The event brought together 12 advisers and prosecutors from the six monitored states. During the event, the use of the Audit Management System was discussed, as well as the livestock procurement control protocols, the various stages of the audit and the tools used to identify potential social and environmental non-compliance.
The audits stem from agreements signed since 2009 between the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) and the meat-processing plants (slaughterhouses) operating in the Amazon. Their aim is to verify the rigour of the controls applied to the origin of livestock in order to prevent the production chain from sourcing animals from areas linked to illegal deforestation, slave labour, illegal land occupation or the encroachment on protected areas and indigenous territories.
With regard to the results of the third round of audits, the participation of 13 meat-processing plants in Mato Grosso was particularly noteworthy, representing 82 % of the volume of cattle sold for slaughter or export during the period analysed. In Pará, the audited establishments accounted for 89.1 % of the cattle marketed. Audits in Rondônia, Tocantins, Amazonas and Acre also achieved greater coverage than in the previous cycle, which meant an expansion of the scope of controls in the Amazon region.
In future cycles, it is expected that extend monitoring to indirect livestock suppliers and begin to assess compliance with socio-environmental criteria in the retail sector that sells beef from the Amazon. These measures aim to to improve traceability across the entire supply chain and contribute to increasingly sustainable livestock production that is free from deforestation.
These measures help to strengthen the tracking, monitoring and verification mechanisms, thereby improving transparency and governance in the livestock sector in the Legal Amazon.
About AL-INVEST Verde
AL-INVEST Verde is a European Union (EU) programme whose main objective is to promote sustainable growth and job creation in Latin America by supporting the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and more circular economy. Through Component 2, led by FIAP in consortium with IILA, the programme provides assistance for strengthening public policies and multi-stakeholder dialogues on sustainable agricultural and value chains, environmental and labour standards, as well as sustainable trade and economic policy and regulatory frameworks.