Francesco de Augustines / Corriere TV

beef Coming from deforested areas of indigenous lands in Amazon complete to Reach Italy by hundreds of shipments annually, according to trade data obtained as part of an international journalistic investigation coordinated by Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

I have finished 1000 tracked shipments of beef that arrived at the ports of Livorno, Genoa and Vado Ligure between 2014 and 2022, starting at the company’s slaughterhouse Marfrige From Tangará da Serra, in Mato Grosso, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, which includes among them sponsors Plantations that occupied the indigenous areas of the pastures, where the forest once existed.

We used to live in that area, then he came to us whitenessThey took our land and forests,” says Patau Miki, one of the craftswomen, an advocate for the indigenous group. Mickey. The group lives in the southern part of Mato Grosso, Brazil, and until the 1970s was one of the few left out of contact with the rest of the world.

In the following years What is this? you have changed a lot. Already in the eighties the first pastures appeared, but today The lands of these people Ended up in expansion goalsagricultural businesswith corporations grabbing land, clearing forests, and setting up pastures and mono farms.

According to data from the Brazilian Rural Administration System (Sicar) developed by the National Indian Corporation (Funai), in 2022 there were 142 private land registered within the Myky Territory.

“In that area we used to pick up Tucum To make ropes for our nets, while today it has become a breeding ground cattleBatu says, referring to one fazenda Which rises not far away, enclosed in a metal grid.

Today you fight one Myky legal battle Before the Brazilian Supreme Court to recognize their rights to the territory, which are guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution but not protected as a result Controversial legislation on the right to land Launched by the president’s government in 2021 Jair Bolsonarowhich has, in fact, encouraged in recent years the employment and conversion of indigenous peoples’ lands into agricultural lands.

Where does the meat go?

Meat from pastures that originated in the Myky region also reaches Europe via exports Marfrig’s slaughterhouse, which is located in the same area as it Tangará da Serraabout 5 hours by car.

Marfrig is one of the main companies in the meat sector in Brazil, with 32,000 employees and a turnover in 2021 of about $15 billion. Only in factories in South America is almost slaughtered 5 million of cattle per year.

Although the data on sponsors From individual slaughterhouses to the company is not public, by some documents commercial With reference to the livestock transport data, it was possible to verify that the suppliers of the Marfrig slaughterhouse in Tangará da Serra include some companies located in the Myky territory. Among them, for example, the company Cascavel The cattle were delivered to Marfrig in 2019. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Marfrig, on the other hand, responded with an appeal Controversial legislation to Bolsonaro’s government, claiming to “consider indigenous lands only those approved by the president”. However, the company has renewed its own Yup To mitigate any association with illegal deforestation.

From the Amazon to Italy

A database we viewed for Drafting From this article it is revealed that the Marfrig slaughterhouse in Tangará da Serra between 2014 and 2022 was exported beef – Typically frozen – for many producers around the world, in particular China And the Europe (Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom), with a total value of more than 1.1 billion euros.
As for Italy, there is more between 2014 and the first half of 2022 thousand shipments Leaving the Marfrig slaughterhouse in Tangará da Serra with a total of more than 25 thousand tons, it arrived at the Italian ports of Genoa, Livorno and Vado Ligure, and was imported on behalf of very few Italian companies in the meat sector.

Despite the frequent inquiries denounced in recent years Link Between cattle ranching in Brazil and deforestation in the Amazon, Italy is still far main importer European beef and leather from Brazil has not adopted specific policies for counter import Of these raw materials are at risk from the main “green lung” of the world.

According to Eurostat data, Italy imported in 2021 23.5 thousand tons of frozen beef137 million euros, and 1.1 thousand tons of chilled beef, valued at 8.2 million euros. Also from Brazil in 2021, Italy confirmed itself as the main European importer of leatherworth another 175 million euros.

In Italy, Brazilian beef is mainly used in production Bresaola from Valtellina And canned meat, with a small slice dedicated to the world Catering.

Marfrig’s slaughterhouse in Tangará da Serra is also on the Nestlé multinational supplier list, published in Site for the company itself. Nestle uses beef in some baby and pet food, but for some time It has pledged to completely eliminate raw materials associated with deforestation from production by 2022. The multinational company responded to this investigation by saying,phase out» Marfrig as a supplier already in 2021, hence the Brazilian company will not appear In the next annual update of the supplier list.

On September 13, the European Parliament voted in favor of tougher measures to be included in legislative proposal to oppose Import of raw materials associated with tropical deforestationsuch as palm oil, soybeans and beef.