Flávio Dino suspends ongoing actions, including at Cade, on the Soy Moratorium

BRASÍLIA/SÃO PAULO (Reuters) – The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Flávio Dino, decided to suspend the progress in all administrative and judicial instances of actions and procedures that directly and indirectly debated the legality of the Soy Moratorium until there is a definitive judgment on the matter by the Court.

The decision on the private sector pact that aims to prevent new deforestation in the Amazon forest even affects the discussion of the matter being processed before the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade).

Under the moratorium, traders and Soy Acceleration commit not to buy soy grown in deforested areas in the Amazon biome after 2008, but the nearly two-decade-old agreement has increasingly faced opposition from agricultural producers, especially in Mato Grosso.

“After the final judgment of the matter by the Federal Supreme Court, the situation of the procedures suspended due to this decision will be examined”, determined the judge.

The decision was taken after a request for interim provisional protection made by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove), in an action that discusses aspects of the Soy Moratorium of a state law in Mato Grosso.

“The decision requests, once again, the legality of the Soy Moratorium by suspending all judicial and administrative actions to prove otherwise,” Abiove said in a note.

The day before, the STF ministers formed a majority of 7 to 3 in an action in the STF, reported by Dino, which considered a law that prohibits tax benefits to companies participating in the moratorium to be constitutional.

But in his vote, followed by the majority, Dino also recognized the legality of the moratorium, something questioned by producers, who consider the pact a cartel.

The producers argued that the companies participating in the moratorium obtained information and did not purchase soy from farmers who deforested their land for planting after 2008, even if the deforestation was carried out in accordance with federal legislation.

The Respondent, the Association of Soy and Corn Producers of Mato Grosso (Aprosoja MT), which opposes the moratorium, stated that it “respects the decision of Minister Flávio Dino and trusts the assessment of the plenary session of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in ratifying the technical work developed so far by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade)”.

According to Aprosoja MT, Cade “has already recognized the illegality, in competition matters, of the so-called Soy Moratorium and accusations of the formation of a cartel between negotiations that signed the pact”.

The association added that Cade’s General Superintendence had opened an administrative investigation against executives of these companies this week to further investigate the facts.

The entity stated that Cade’s technical work “will contribute to guaranteeing free competition, equality between producers and compliance with Brazilian legislation”.