Aprosoja-MT requests that traders be sentenced to pay R$1 billion for Soy Moratorium

Aprosoja-MT has asked the Mato Grosso Court to sentence the trading companies participating in the Soy Moratorium to pay R$1 billion. The claim is based on collective moral damages. The amount should be allocated to farmers associated with the entity.

Aprosoja claims that producers were prevented from selling soybeans grown in deforested areas after 2008. This would have caused financial and moral losses.

According to the entity, the Moratorium impacts approximately 2,7 million hectares in 85 municipalities in Mato Grosso. Aprosoja argues that the amount requested is equivalent to 0,05% of the combined revenue of the five main trading companies operating in Brazil, estimated at R$1,8 trillion in 2024.

The entity argues that the amount “could be earned by these companies in less than a quarter of a single day of commercial operations”. It also states that the amount is modest compared to the defendants’ economic capacity.

Aprosoja claims that the Soy Moratorium masks anti-competitive practices. It denounces the existence of secret lists of blocked producers, with no clear rules for inclusion, exclusion or corrections. According to the entity, trading companies continue to buy other crops, such as rice and sorghum, from these same areas.

The National Association of Cereal Exporters (Anec) and the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove) have not yet commented.

The STF will judge, between May 30 and June 6, the precautionary measure that allowed the entry into force of part of the Mato Grosso law that prohibits tax benefits for companies that adhere to the Moratorium.