Edits throughout with reaction from NGOs, Abiove statement
By Ana Mano, Manuela Andreoni and Andre Romani
SAO PAULO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A lobby group for Brazilian grain trading and crushing firms has told farming state Mato Grosso that it and many of its members are quitting a nearly 20-year-old pact protecting the Amazon basin from deforestation driven by soy farming.
The soy moratorium agreement bars signatories from buying soybeans grown on Amazonian farms deforested after July 2008.
In an announcement on Monday, Mato Grosso Governor Mauro Mendes said lobby group Abiove informed the state government officially that the association and major traders were leaving the pact. A tax law change on January 1 is a key factor.
Abiove, which includes ADM ADM.N, Bunge BG.N, Cargill, Cofco and Louis Dreyfus among members, confirmed in a subsequent statement it had "initiated talks" to exit the pact, which is backed by the federal government and conservation groups.
The group and about two-thirds of the companies that formerly participated no longer appeared on Monday on the moratorium agreement's website .
WWF said in a statement that the decision was an environmental setback.
Departure of the firms from the pact "weakens one of the most effective instruments for combating deforestation in the country," and it exposes farmers to increasing climate risks, WWF said.
Greenpeace also criticized the move, saying it would violate promises made to investors and international markets.
The moratorium is credited with slowing the destruction of the world's largest rainforest. However, as Reuters reported last week, some of the world's largest soybean traders were preparing to withdraw from the deal to preserve tax benefits in Mato Grosso, where a new law eliminating the benefits for moratorium participants took force at the start of 2026.
Aprosoja-MT, an association representing farmers in Mato Grosso that had pressured companies for years to end the pact, welcomed the Abiove announcement.
The farmer group called the decision a victory, claiming the moratorium agreement is illegal and unfair to those who comply with the Brazilian Forest Code.
Abiove said companies will be individually responsible for fulfilling their own conservation commitments. "The legacy of monitoring and the expertise acquired over nearly 20 years will not be lost," it said.
(Reporting by Ana Mano and Andre Romani and Manuela Andreoni; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
((ana.mano@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +55-11-5644-7704; Mob: +55-119-4470-4529; Reuters Messaging: ana.mano.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))
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