Delay to Cattle Traceability in Brazil’s Pará State Poses Major Threat to Amazon
Responding to mandatory ear tagging being postponed until 2030, Mighty Earth warns that this decision by the Brazilian state of Pará, host of COP30, will drive further deforestation in the region, pushing the Amazon closer to a tipping point
Less than two weeks since the Brazilian state of Pará hosted COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belém, it’s been announced that it is imposing a five-year delay on its mandatory, state-wide ear tagging initiative aimed at combatting illegal deforestation linked to the cattle industry.
The program, which uses electronic ear tags to provide lifetime traceability for each animal, was launched by a decree at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023 and was intended to show Brazil’s climate leadership in tackling a key driver of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
Cattle ranching is the single largest driver of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, with Pará being one of the most affected states. All 24 million cattle in Pará will be tagged with an electronic ear tag to track every animal’s movement from birth to slaughter.
The initial deadline for ranchers was January 1, 2026 to identify herds with ear tags, with the goal of having every animal in the permanent herd individually tagged and tracked by January 1, 2027. Any cattle that have been reared on illegally cleared land will be excluded from the supply chain and cannot be legally sold to major traders, processors, or supermarkets.
Boris Patentreger, Global Nature lead at Mighty Earth said:
“The State of Pará’s decision to postpone mandatory cattle tracking via ear tagging until 2030 is a major blow in the fight against Amazon deforestation, particularly after just hosting the UN climate COP there. Any delay in tracking illegal cattle-driven deforestation risks more forest loss and fires, pushing the Amazon every closer to an irreversible tipping point, where it ceases to function as a rainforest.”
“Companies got behind this ear tagging scheme, recognizing the marketing value of deforestation-free beef. The world’s biggest meat company, JBS, recently supplied its major retail client Carrefour with the first batch of fully traceable beef from Pará, demonstrating that this is entirely possible. Brazilian beef giant Marfrig has also made meaningful progress in eliminating deforestation from its supply chains.”
“Mighty Earth urges Pará to reinstate an ambitious and enforceable timeline for cattle traceability, engage openly with civil society and Indigenous communities, and ensure that no further forest is cleared for livestock. The eyes of the world are on Pará, again.”
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For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Carole Mitchell, Global Director of Communications (London)
[email protected]
+44 7917 105000
Boris Patentreger (Paris)
[email protected]
+33 776 074 419
About Mighty Earth
Mighty Earth is a global advocacy organization working to defend a living planet. Our team has achieved transformative change by persuading leading industries to dramatically reduce deforestation and climate pollution throughout their global supply chains in palm oil, rubber, cocoa, and animal feed, while improving livelihoods for Indigenous and local communities across the tropics. www.mightyearth.org
