UK farming organisations have warned the Brazilian government they will stop sourcing soya from the country if it presses ahead with controversial land reforms.
The National Pig Association (NPA) and Red Tractor have joined 40 other major food firms as part of a joint warning to the Brazilian government.
Their letter calls for a rejection of a bill that would allow land that has been illegally occupied after 2014 to be put up for sale.
This would potentially allow illegal occupants to buy it, which the signatories fear could result in an increase in deforestation for raising beef cattle or growing soya, in both cases, primarily for export.
A similar letter was sent last year ahead of the expected introduction of the bill, but the legislation was withdrawn.
The letter again urges Brazil to reconsider: “We were heartened by your previous decision to withdraw the proposal before it was brought to the floor,” it says.
“Over the past year, we have seen a series of circumstances result in extremely high levels of forest fires and deforestation in Brazil.
“At the same time, we have noted that the targets to reduce these levels, as well as the enforcement budgets available to deliver them, are increasingly inadequate.
"It is therefore extremely concerning to see that the same measure we responded to last year is being put forward again, with potentially even greater threats to the Amazon than before.”
The NPA’s Lizzie Wilson, who represents the pig sector on the UK roundtable on sustainable soya, explained that soya continued to be an important part of pig diets.
"But the UK pig sector, and the wider food chain, as this letter so clearly shows, is absolutely determined that the soya we source must be sustainably produced.
"That is why we have put our name to this letter - we hope the Brazilian government is listening," Ms Wilson said.
Under the leadership of president Jair Bolsanaro, the level of deforestation in the Amazon is reported as being the highest since 2008, according to the BBC.
This year alone, around 430,000 acres of the Amazon have been logged or burned, according to the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project.
The signatories say the measures run counter to the rhetoric from Mr Bolsanaro as recently as the April summit on climate change with US president Joe Biden.
“We would like to reiterate that we consider the Amazon as a vital part of the earth system that’s essential to the security of our planet as well as being a critical part of a prosperous future for Brazilians and all of society,” the letter adds.
