"Brazil probes JBS and other beefpackers for buying cattle from deforested land", 29 August 2025

...Brazilian environment agency Ibama has notified 12 meatpacking plants, including two operated by JBS SA , of an inspection into their alleged involvement in a scheme to buy cattle from illegally cleared land in the Amazon rainforest...Ibama on Thursday announced it was looking into 12 plants for such violations, but did not name the companies.

In a statement, JBS said it did not buy cattle from the farm that Ibama said had been illegally razed. The meatpacker added that it can provide further information to the agency once it gains access to the full inspection report.

Privately owned Frigol and Mercurio are also among the 12 beef producers under review, the document seen by Reuters showed. Frigol responded that Ibama had made a mistake, adding it also had not bought cattle from the farm the agency said had been illegally razed. Mercurio Chairman Lincoln Bueno told Reuters a third-party firm monitors the origin of the animals it processes, and that it does not do business with properties with environmental and labor irregularities.

Ibama on Thursday said it was inspecting plants that were "acquiring suspicious cattle, triangulated with 'clean' farms, to disguise their illegal origin"...

"Producing, selling or buying cattle from these embargoed areas is an environmental crime and those responsible are fined," Ibama's statement said...