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Judi Lynn

(160,214 posts)
Tue May 26, 2020, 09:11 PM May 2020

Brazilian taxpayers subsidizing Amazon-clearing cattle ranches, study shows

by Naira Hofmeister on 26 May 2020 | Translated by Maya Johnson

One in every 10 pieces of beef served up on Brazilian plates is paid for by tax dollars. The national beef industry is one of the most heavily subsidized by state and federal governments, to the tune of 12.3 billion reais ($2.2 billion) per year in the form of tax incentives, easy credit, and even debt forgiveness.

Even though it’s a multibillion-dollar industry — on March 25 this year, JBS, the world’s biggest meatpacking company, reported 6 billion reais ($1.1 billion) in profit for 2019, the best results in its history to date — the tax revenue it contributes to the Brazilian treasury, averaging 15.1 billion reais ($3 billion) per year, is small compared to the incentives.

That means that for every $1 collected in taxes from the beef sector, only 20 cents effectively goes to society; the rest goes back to the producers in the form of various benefits.

. . .

“These are the highest emissions per kilogram of meat produced,” said Roberto Strumpf, a biologist and environmental coordinator of the Instituto Escolhas study. “However, in absolute terms, the Amazon emits much more because it is more extensive and the fallen trees contain a much larger quantity of carbon.”

Three large meatpackers — JBS, Marfrig and Minerva — account for 42% of all cattle slaughtered in the Brazilian Amazon. And last year the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that, even with the responsibility agreements made by industry and retailers, it is impossible to assure beef production without deforestation when ranching takes place in forested areas.

More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/brazilian-taxpayers-subsidizing-amazon-clearing-cattle-ranches-study-shows/

Also posted in Environment and energy:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127138106

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APRIL 28, 2020 / 2:07 PM / A MONTH AGO
Brazil's JBS praises Trump order to keep meat plants open
Nayara Figueiredo
2 MIN READ

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned executive order to keep that country’s meat plants open will bring certainty to the sector, an executive for Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA said on Tuesday.

JBS Chief Financial Officer Guilherme Cavalcanti praised Trump’s decision in a live webcast, after saying the United States only has about 15 days of meat inventory.


Trump plans to issue the executive order on Tuesday, a senior administration official said. The five-page order is designed to give companies more liability protection in case employees catch the virus as a result of having to go to work.

. . .

Cavalcanti said that, JBS has idle capacity in Brazil and Australia that can be directed toward meat exports to the United States if necessary.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jbs-outlook/brazils-jbs-praises-trump-order-to-keep-meat-plants-open-idUSKCN22A337

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