Amazon cattle audits reveal socio-environmental non-compliance

Audits conducted under the Meat in the Amazon Conduct Adjustment Agreement (TAC) revealed that 7.51% of cattle sold directly to meatpacking plants in the Legal Amazon between January 2023 and December 2024 had socio-environmental non-compliance issues. This figure exceeds the 4% tolerance limit set by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF). Non-compliance includes cattle sourced from areas with illegal deforestation, indigenous lands, conservation units, or farms utilizing labor analogous to slavery.

In cases where companies did not undergo formal audits, automated data analysis—crossing environmental and transit records—identified a 64.8% irregularity rate among audited purchases.

To strengthen oversight, the MPF announced that starting in January 2027, monitoring will expand to include indirect suppliers (level 1). This will cover ranchers who sell cattle to fattening farms that subsequently sell to meatpacking plants. The MPF plans to begin monitoring these indirect transactions in 2028, utilizing a platform developed by UFMG to cross-reference public databases and notify companies of irregularities by 2029.