欧州小売り各社、ブラジル産牛肉製品撤去へ　熱帯雨林破壊で

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】米環境保護団体マイティーアースは１６日、複数の欧州スーパーが、南米アマゾンの熱帯雨林などの破壊につながっているブラジル産牛肉製品の取り扱いを停止していると明らかにした。（写真は資料写真）
　仏大手カルフールのベルギー法人は、アマゾンやパンタナル熱帯性湿地で飼育された牛の肉を使用しているとみられるコンビーフ、ビーフジャーキー、高級部位のカット肉などを店頭から撤去すると表明した。
　こうした動きは、ジャーナリストが設立したブラジルのＮＧＯレポルテル・ブラジルとマイティーアースが共同で行った調査がきっかけとなった。調査では、ブラジルの食肉加工大手ＪＢＳ、マルフリグ、ミネルバ各社のサンパウロ工場と森林破壊の関連性が明るみに出た。
　環境活動家は以前から、世界の食肉産業が環境に与える影響を批判しており、生物多様性の喪失のうち約３分の２は食肉産業が原因だと主張している。
　ベルギーのデレーズや同国内のカルフールの店舗は、ビーフジャーキーメーカー「ジャックリンクス」の製品の販売を停止。仏スーパー大手オーシャンもＪＢＳ関連のビーフジャーキー製品を撤去すると発表した。
　世界最大の食肉メーカーであるＪＢＳは、違法な森林破壊を「容認しない」構えで、これまでに１万４０００社以上の卸売業者との取引を自主的に排除してきたとしている。ただ、ＪＢＳは自社および肉牛業界全体にとって、サプライチェーン全体に対し同様の管理を徹底することが課題となっていると認めている。
　ブラジルでは、森林破壊への関与を疑われている牧場が「クリーン」な牧場へ違法に牛を売却し、買い取った牧場が食肉加工会社にその牛を転売する「畜牛ロンダリング（洗浄）」が横行している。
　ブラジルの国立宇宙研究所（ＮＩＳＲ）によると、昨年の森林破壊面積は１５年ぶりの高水準となった。開拓地の大半が、畜牛目的とされている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/12/23-11:01）

Several European supermarket chains are dropping Brazilian beef products linked to destruction of the Amazon rainforest and tropical wetland, the US activist group Mighty Earth said Thursday.
Chains such as Carrefour Belgium have committed to pulling from their shelves corned beef, beef jerky and fresh prime cuts suspected to come from cattle raised in the Amazon and the Pantanal tropical wetlands.
The move came after a Mighty Earth investigation in partnership with Reporter Brasil, a Brazilian non-government organisation founded by journalists, highlighted links between Sao Paulo manufacturing plants of Brazilian meat-processing giants JBS, Marfrig and Minerva and deforestation.
Activists have long criticised the environmental footprint of the global meat industry, blaming it for some two-thirds of global biodiversity loss.
It has also accused meat processing firms of not delivering on promises to end deforestation in their supply chains.
Carrefour withdrew Jack Link's brand beef jerky, a pledge also made by Belgian supermarket Delhaize, and Auchan of France similarly said it would be removing beef jerky products linked to JBS.
We look at the origin of the products that we would have in other countries -- if we find any -- to make similar decisions if the case arises, Carrefour's director of corporate social responsibility Agathe Grossmith told AFP.
Mighty Earth said other chains including Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, Lidl, Sainsbury's and Princes in Britain were taking similar initiatives.
A spokesman for Sainsbury's, which sources the bulk of its beef products from Britain and Ireland, told AFP the company was taking measures to ensure sourcing of its corned beef products outside Brazil.
An Albert Heijn spokesperson told AFP that we have now taken the decision to eliminate progressively Brazilian beef and are seeking out alternatives from other countries of origin.
- Murky indirect suppliers -
The measures come as the European Union brings in new legislation designed to fight deforestation. Mighty Earth director Nico Muzi said in a statement he saw the noose tightening around the necks of those involved in deforestation.
Brazil's top beef exporters defended their environmental records.
JBS, the world's biggest meat company, said it had no tolerance for illegal deforestation and had proactively blocked more than 14,000 suppliers to date.
However, it acknowledged that the challenge for JBS, and for the beef cattle supply chain in general, is to guarantee this same control over the suppliers of its suppliers.
It says it is implementing a platform using blockchain technology to eliminate deforestation from its indirect supply chain by 2025.
Brazil has struggled to deal with cattle laundering, in which ranches that are blacklisted for deforestation illegally sell their animals to clean ranches that then sell them to meat-processing companies.
Minerva Foods, another top exporter, said it has been a pioneer in identifying and fighting deforestation, and has made a commitment to ensure zero illegal deforestation throughout the supply chain in South America by 2030.
Another top firm accused in the report, Marfrig, said it is absolutely committed to social and environmental issues and to finding ways to integrate its (supply) chain and bring more transparency to its operations.
The Amazon is the world's largest tropical rainforest. Deforestation, after falling for several years, has risen since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2019.
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research said last month deforestation had hit a 15-year high this year.
The vast majority of the cleared land is used for cattle ranching.