Brazil’s Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of the Amazon Soy Moratorium, a voluntary agreement established in 2006 that restricts the purchase of soy grown on land deforested in the Amazon after July 2008, while also upholding state laws that remove tax incentives from farmers participating in the scheme.

The ruling therefore provides legal recognition of the Moratorium but also weakens the economic incentives that have supported it, particularly after major grain traders withdrew from the agreement earlier this year. The Moratorium has been credited with significantly reducing Amazon deforestation without constraining soy production, but its future now depends increasingly on companies’ voluntary commitments.