Agricultural Front proposes State intervention to avoid blocking products from Mato Grosso

The main agendas related to the agricultural productive sector are debated by the Agricultural Parliamentary Front (FPA), the largest in the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso (ALMT) and which has 18 of the 24 deputies of the Legislative Branch. In the first four months of this year, four regular meetings were held to discuss topics such as the support fund for family farming, conservation and illegal deforestation in the Pantanal, the health inspection system and, more recently, the so-called “soy and meat moratorium”, which could restrict the market for products from Mato Grosso, even when produced legally.

At the last meeting of the FPA-MT, held on the penultimate Tuesday of April, parliamentarians committed to proposing a State intervention to reverse the boycott by companies of agricultural production from open areas, even if legally, in the Legal Amazon . The “soy moratorium” and “beef moratorium” aim to combat deforestation, but do not distinguish between legal and illegal, blocking all production from deforested areas, even if in accordance with the Brazilian Forest Code. The measure could cause economic losses and even induce other buyers to restrict trade with the country.

Deputy Dilmar Dal Bosco (União), coordinator of the Front, stated that the deputies will take the matter to Brasília to ask for support from the Chamber to prevent the boycott of products. “The impediment of the moratorium concerns all open areas, even if in accordance with legislation, from 2008 onwards. We are going to promote a debate with the State government, involving the national Agricultural Parliamentary Front, the Amazon Parliament, with the aim of to avoid an even bigger problem for our state and for our production”.

Representative Janaina Riva (MDB) explains that the trade pact is superior to federal and state legislation in order to serve countries, mainly from the European Union, that seek to curb Brazilian production, in economic interest. “We will analyze which companies are signatories so that the government can present the commercial and social losses that could cause Mato Grosso. Another initiative would be to ask the government to suspend the tax incentives granted to these companies as a way of making them review their membership”.

Another topic discussed at the last meeting was illegal deforestation committed by a rural producer in the Pantanal region. The offender used chemical agents, causing damage to the region’s flora and fauna. The deputy, Carlos Avallone, who makes up the FPA-MT, highlighted that the use of this type of product is prohibited by Law 11,861/2022, the Pantanal Law, and that the ALMT will discuss with the State Secretariat for the Environment (Sema ) methods and tools that can identify this type of action and act more quickly to avoid damage such as that recently recorded. “We will discuss the use of satellite images to visualize crimes like these.”

The next FPA meeting should take place on May 21st, in the auditorium of the Agriculture and Livestock Federation of Mato Grosso (Famato), in Cuiabá. In addition to the parliamentary bench, representatives of the productive sector that make up the Agro-MT Forum also participate in the meetings.

Watch the TV Assembly report here.