Washington, May 4 (EFE).- The environmental NGO ClientEarth announced Thursday that it has filed a legal dispute against the US agricultural giant Cargill for its contribution to deforestation caused by soybeans and human rights violations in Brazil.
His complaint was filed on Wednesday in Washington before the National Contact Point of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the body that promotes the OECD guidelines and a non-judicial forum for assistance in conflict resolution.
That National Point will determine if the complaint is admissible and if it contributes its mediation to both parties.
Cargill has annual revenues of $165 billion and according to ClientEarth this is the first time it has faced legal action in the US related to its impact on deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, the Atlantic forest and the Cerrado savannah.
The NGO considered that the company is not adequately monitoring the large amounts of soy that it markets, manages in ports, or sends to global markets when it comes to “identifying and eliminating links to deforestation and human rights abuses ” in Brazil, thereby breaching their legal “due diligence” responsibilities.
“The rapid expansion of soybean production for animal feed around the world is bringing Brazil’s vulnerable rainforests and savannahs dangerously close to tipping points from which they may never recover, while endangering communities that they depend on them,” Laura Dowley, a lawyer for ClientEarth, said in the statement.
In his opinion, the US multinational, being one of the largest traders that sources supplies from Brazil, should “lead the best practices to prevent soybeans linked to deforestation and human rights abuses from filling the world food market.” .
The NGO noted that the destruction of large areas of the Amazon has been linked to the opening in 2003 of Cargill’s controversial commercial port of Santarém, in the northern state of Pará, which facilitated exports out of the region and opened up vast areas of forests to soybean production. The company also plans to build a large port downstream in Abaetetuba.
ClientEarth expects Cargill to disclose its current policies on human rights and the environment in Brazil and to adopt the recommendations of the OECD and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on responsible supply chains.
The participation of both parties in the Touch Point mediation is voluntary. When the latter completes its assessment, it will issue a statement outlining the allegations and could include recommendations on compliance with OECD advice.
