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Brazil’s Antitrust Watchdog Probes Soybean Traders Over Cartel Concerns

By  |  August 19, 2025

Brazil’s competition authority has launched an investigation into some of the world’s largest soybean traders, raising questions over whether a longstanding environmental pact aimed at protecting the Amazon has evolved into a potential purchasing cartel. The probe, announced Monday by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade), targets 30 trading companies and two industry groups, according to Bloomberg.

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    The inquiry focuses on the Soy Moratorium, a nearly two-decade-old agreement under which traders pledge not to buy soybeans grown on land in the Amazon that was deforested after 2008. While the companies involved — including subsidiaries of Cargill Inc., Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., and Bunge Global SA — argue the pact helps preserve the rainforest, Cade described it as an “anti-competitive agreement,” per Bloomberg.

    The regulator has ordered that coordinated compliance checks and information-sharing among companies be suspended, effectively pausing the moratorium. Greenpeace Brazil criticized the move, with forest campaign coordinator Cristiane Mazzetti warning that it “threaten[s] nearly two decades of progress and favor[s] precisely those who profit most from the destruction of the Amazon.”

    The financial implications could be severe. Industry associations could face fines of up to 2 billion reais ($365 million), while penalties for the traders might reach as much as 20% of their gross revenue from the previous fiscal year, according to Bloomberg.

    Related: Prospects for U.S. Agriculture in the Face of Trade Policy Uncertainty in 2025

    The decision comes as Brazil prepares to host the COP30 climate summit in Belém later this year, a moment when the country’s environmental record will be under international scrutiny. Agriculture — particularly soybean farming and cattle ranching — remains one of the primary drivers of deforestation in the nation.

    Industry groups have defended the pact. Abiove, one of the associations under investigation, said in a statement that the Soy Moratorium has been “recognized as a public environmental policy by the Federal Attorney General’s Office” and pledged to cooperate fully with authorities.

    Farmers, however, have long opposed the agreement, arguing it imposes stricter conditions than Brazilian law, which allows agricultural use of up to 20% of Amazon landholdings. The Cade probe follows requests from Brazil’s Lower House, Senate, the national agriculture confederation (CNA), and Aprosoja, a soybean growers’ association in Mato Grosso, the country’s largest grain-producing state.

    With the moratorium on hold, traders can still carry out individual compliance checks, though joint monitoring efforts will remain suspended for the duration of the probe.

    Source: Bloomberg