Environmental group demands tougher legislation against ‘imported deforestation’ linked to illicit soy farming

Environmental Action Germany (DUH) is calling for the German government to campaign for a strong EU supply chain law and tough EU legislation against what it describes as “imported deforestation” with regard to European imports of soy from South America. “After cattle farming, soy cultivation is the strongest driver of forest destruction in South America,” the non-profit environmental and consumer protection association said in statement. Imported soy is widely used in Germany’s agricultural sector as animal feed and in the production of meat, eggs, dairy products and farmed salmon. In Brazil, a leading soy exporter to Germany, illegal farming operations are increasingly burning and clearing tropical forests in order to grow soybean. “To date, there is no binding regulation in Germany or the EU that effectively excludes and sanctions deforestation and illegal land grabbing in the supply chains of companies,” the DUH said. 

The DUH also wants German supermarket chains to do more to ensure that their business is not contributing to the destruction of tropical forests. The DUH adds that just 22 percent of the soy feed used in Germany is “demonstrably free of deforestation.” German development minister Gerd Müller has also called for a mandatory certification of soy and palm oil to ensure that tropical rainforests are not destroyed linked to their production.