Upholding the moratorium on soy sourced from a vital ecosystem

Developing a framework for the responsible cultivation of soybeans in Brazil

In 2006, ADM joined NGOs and other leading global agribusinesses— including fellow members of the Brazilian vegetable oil trade group ABIOVE, and ANEC, the Brazilian Grain Exporters Association — to impose a moratorium on the purchase of soy grown in newly deforested regions of the Amazon biome. The moratorium’s participants remain intent on developing a framework for the responsible cultivation of soybeans.

ABIOVE reported that in late 2008 and early 2009, aerial monitoring of certain Brazilian rainforest land deforested after July 2006 revealed that soy production in these areas had been effectively minimized and contained: Of 157,898 total hectares surveyed, soy planting was identified on approximately 1,385 hectares. “Expansion of soy production in the Amazon Biome has been minimal … the moratorium has complied with its main role of inhibiting deforestation in this region of differentiated biodiversity,” the group stated in an April 2009 report. 

While the moratorium has made significant progress, we at ADM share the view that conditions do not yet warrant its suspension, which is why our Company supported an extension that will keep the ban in place through 2010.

ADM is also a member of the Round Table on Sustainable Soy Association, a coalition of producers, NGOs, industry representatives and financial institutions dedicated to defining standards for responsible soy production and promoting best practices to support that goal.