LatinNews Daily - 20 May 2020

* More than 40 international companies from primarily the food and retail industries have addressed an open letter to the Brazilian congress, expressing opposition to a bill on the regularisation of titles of privately occupied public land, due to be voted upon today (20 May). Proponents of the bill, which replaces a presidential decree issued by President Jair Bolsonaro last December, argue it will aid environmental enforcement on the newly regularised land. The bill’s critics fear it will encourage illegal land grabbing and deforestation, with the letter’s signatories outlining that this would in turn threaten the Amazon ecosystem and Brazil’s emissions reduction commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The 41 companies, which include Burger King UK and major British supermarket chains such as Waitrose & Partners, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco, say that if the bill is passed, they may cut off their business in Brazil. “[The measure] would also put at the risk the ability of organisations such as ours to continue sourcing from Brazil in the future”, they warn, saying that they “want to continue to source from and invest in Brazil and help ensure the Amazon can be economically productive for all”.

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