JBS calls for mandatory cattle tracking
According to the CEO of JBS SA, the world's largest meat company based in Brazil, a mandatory government program is needed to track cattle being raised for beef to prevent deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, Reuters has reported.
The practice of cattle ranching, along with clearing land for timber or crop growing, is a major driver of deforestation in the region, which threatens global climate targets as rainforests serve as carbon sinks.
In a New York Times panel on climate change, JBS CEO Gilberto Tomazoni emphasised the need for a national mandatory traceability system to track individual animals and combat deforestation. Despite JBS's efforts to track suppliers with satellite geo monitoring and blockchain technology, some environmentalists oppose the company's plans to list shares in New York due to concerns about its impact on deforestation and climate change.
Global Witness, an activist group, has found a correlation between investments in JBS since 2010 and forest destruction in Brazil linked to its supply chain. JBS has proposed that the listing would enhance corporate governance and transparency through adherence to SEC standards and plans to only do business with producers registered in its blockchain tool as of January 2026.
A recent audit by Brazilian prosecutors found that nearly 17% of the cattle bought by JBS in the Amazon rainforest allegedly came from ranches with "irregularities" like illegal deforestation, but JBS claims the issues have been fixed.
