"UK supermarkets push for Amazon soy safeguards after traders abandon ban", 26 January 2026

...Leading British and European retailers are trying to salvage the core elements of the Amazon soy moratorium after the world’s most successful forest protection agreement was wrecked by Brazilian lawmakers and abandoned by international traders.

In an open letter, high street brands including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda say the breakdown this month of the 20-year-old agreement will damage consumer confidence unless new arrangements are put in place to ensure grain production is not linked to deforestation.

The letter is addressed to the major traders of soy – Cargill of the US, Bunge and Louis Dreyfuss of Brazil and the Chinese state-owned firm Cofco. They are members of the Brazilian soy producers’ association Abiove, which recently removed its name from the official website of the soy moratorium.

Without their participation, conservation groups warn of a free-for-all race to clear land in the Amazon biome despite scientific warnings that destruction of the world’s biggest tropical rainforest is approaching a point of no return. Supporters of the moratorium say its loss could open up an area the size of Portugal unless alternative measures are put in place...

The retailers behind the letter, which also include Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer and the Co-op, say they will continue to apply the key principle of the soy moratorium – not to source the grain for Amazon land cleared after 2008 – and urge the traders and producers to clarify whether they still adhere to previous commitments on the climate and environment and are able to make assurances about the reporting, monitoring and verification of their supply chains...

Conservation groups including WWF and Greenpeace have said land speculators are already moving into the Amazon in the expectation that the 2008 cut-off date will be moved, which will reward them for destruction...