BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) — Brazilian prosecutors are seeking to fine 26 beef producers $282 million for buying cattle raised in illegally deforested Amazon areas or on indigenous reservations.
The list from the federal prosecution service included one major Brazilian food producer, Brasil Foods, which faces fines of $8.9 million over accusations that it bought 1,762 cattle reared on illegally cleared land in Mato Grosso state.
About half those alleged purchases were made by Brasil Foods’ Sadia unit. The alleged purchases are a small number compared to the nearly 11 million cattle and hogs that Brasil Foods slaughters each year.
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Prosecutors calculated the fines for each company based on the number of animals raised in illegal conditions that they are alleged to have bought. Prosecutors say the 26 companies bought 55,699 such cattle between January and September 2012.
Brasil Foods spokesperson Kristhian Kaminski said the company had not received official notification of legal proceedings and therefore could not comment.
Several other companies faced fines for buying cattle raised with the use of slave labour, prosecutors said. The cases will go before judges in the states of Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Rondonia, where the offences are alleged to have taken place.
“We want these companies to stop buying in these areas and in this way, avert further deforestation,” said Mato Grosso prosecutor Rodrigo Timoteo da Costa e Silva.
Prosecutors said the offences were detected during monitoring of the companies’ activities after all 26 refused to sign an accord under which they would have had to agree to avoid the practices for which they may now be fined.
