EN 
PT_BR 
The suspension of the Soy Moratorium defined by Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) was overturned by an injunction, this Monday (25), brought by the Court of Brasília. The request for an injunction was granted by the judge of the 20th Civil Court of the Federal District, Adverci Mendes de Abreu, which had been presented by Abiove (Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries).
“It was a monocratic ruling, in a procedure still pending collegiate assessment, and without express consideration of the technical and legal statements presented by the plaintiff, as well as of opinions issued by public bodies, such as the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of the Environment itself, which recognize the legitimacy and positive effects of the moratorium on controlling deforestation in the Amazon Biome,” said the judge regarding the Cade decision announced last week.
Following its decision, the Council had already initiated administrative proceedings against companies and associations that signed the Moratorium. The agreement has sparked debate among rural producers, trade associations, and the country's soybean industry for decades.
Aprosoja MT (Association of Soybean and Corn Producers of Mato Grosso) issued an official statement regarding the court decision.
“The Mato Grosso Soybean and Corn Producers Association (Aprosoja-MT) respects the court decision and hopes that the Cade board reiterates the preventive measures of the General Superintendence that suspended the effects of the Soy Moratorium.
We reaffirm that, for years, a private agreement, without legal support, has been imposing unfair trade barriers on producers, especially small and medium-sized ones, preventing the sale of crops grown in regular and licensed areas.”
Below, see the note in full:
“The Mato Grosso Soybean and Corn Producers Association (Aprosoja-MT) respects the court decision and hopes that the Cade board reiterates the preventive measures of the General Superintendence that suspended the effects of the Soy Moratorium.
We reaffirm that, for years, a private agreement, without legal support, has been imposing unfair trade barriers on producers, especially small and medium-sized ones, preventing the sale of crops grown in regular and licensed areas.
The end of the soy moratorium is an essential step for Brazil to reaffirm that sustainability and legality are not in conflict — and reinforces that environmental policies cannot be used as a pretext for economic exclusion.
It is also a necessary step to restore democratic land management, as Justice Dias Toffoli highlighted at the Federal Supreme Court: "The Moratorium negatively impacted the livelihoods of small and medium-sized producers and legally excluded those who respect Brazilian law." Trading companies, which control more than 90% of exports, "unilaterally impose conditions that exclude producers who operate within the law from the market." We reiterate: environmental policies cannot be simulated as a pretext for economic exclusion, much less impose, without democratic representation, rules that violate national sovereignty and the constitutional principle of free enterprise."
The judge from Brasília also stated that “it is disproportionate and premature to immediately dismantle it by means of a single decision, without any collegial debate and without any concrete confrontation of the technical arguments offered in the original procedure.”
The Ministry of the Environment had also been speaking out against the suspension of the Soy Moratorium.
