Committed to Santarém

Cargill’s approach in Santarém is consistent with our commitment to responsible economic development around the world. We believe this diligent approach to investment creates economic opportunities that make positive differences to improving local communities, as well as providing a platform for strong environmental protection.

Growing global demand for soy from Brazil had created serious congestion and delays at Brazil’s southern ports and we wanted to develop a northern outlet for soy acquired from producers in the State of Mato Grosso, a savanna region outside the Amazon biome in midwest Brazil.

We selected Santarém because we could build our new facility within an established port. We followed a public tender process and were granted permission to build a grain export terminal, which became operational in 2003.

 

Santarém community support
Local leaders in Santarém have publicly recognized the important contribution Cargill is making to their community and a signed a statement of their support was published in the local media in April 2006. Read the statement.

 

Complying with government requirements

Since we received permission to construct the terminal by the state government of Pará in early 2000, Cargill has complied with all the legal and environmental requirements of state permitting authorities. This includes the completion of an environmental impact study (called a PCA) required by Pará and typical for construction projects at 90 percent of port terminals throughout Brazil.

State and federal regulations have different requirements and, for the past several years, Cargill has been drawn into a jurisdictional dispute over which regulations had precedence and whether another environmental impact study – an EIA RIMA – should be conducted. 

In April 2007 the Regional Federal Court of the First Region in Brasilia issued its decision to uphold the trial court ruling, which ordered Cargill to commission an EIA RIMA. The ruling reiterated that the terminal operations should continue to remain open while the study was underway. We continue to work with the authorities to resolve this longstanding dispute as quickly as possible. 

Generating new economic activity

Cargill’s investment and presence in Santarém is helping generate new economic activity in an area which has long experienced widespread poverty, high unemployment and a lack of sustainable economic and social development. We are helping local farmers by providing seeds and other essential crop inputs, as well as helping them access new markets for their produce. This is allowing farmers to grow soy, in addition to rice, on pasturelands around Santarém – lands that have been farmed for decades.

Our partnership with The Nature Conservancy is also helping local farmers comply with the Brazilian Forest Code and learn environmental best practices to help preserve and protect areas of land.

 

 

More about soy

Cargill News, Cargill's employee magazine, regularly features stories about how our businesses and employees support responsible sourcing. Read the following stories in this issue (PDF): Finding A Balance in the Amazon Cargill is demonstrating that it is possible to combine environmental protection and economic development – despite critics who claim the two are incompatible. A Q&A With Benito Guerrero The on-the-ground leader of The Nature Conservancy’s Responsible Soy Project talks about the realities of farming in the Amazon Biome. A New Library in Santarém With Cargill’s help, one of Brazil’s poorer cities has a first-class library.

 

As part of our investment in the future of the local community in Santarém, we have also renovated a public library and fully equipped it with books and its first computers. We have trained library employees on how to use the software, use best practices and help visitors learn how to use the computers.

We remain committed to working with the local community to help generate improvements in an area that has long experienced widespread poverty, high unemployment and a lack of economic and social development. Cargill has complied with all the legal and environmental requirements to date and we are working with local authorities to resolve outstanding issues as quickly as possible.

The Soy Moratorium also reconfirms our industry’s commitment to support the Brazilian government’s campaign to eradicate abusive labor practices in Brazil with support of the Ethos Institute and the International Labor Organization.

Cargill does not accept the use of illegal, abusive or enforced labor in any of our operations. We abide by the laws in the countries in which we operate. Our contracts stipulate that we have the right to refuse deliveries of soy or refuse payment if we suspect slave or child laborers were used in its production.

Cargill, as an individual company, and through ABIOVE, is a signatory to the Brazilian National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labor. This initiative, led by the Ethos Institute – a major Brazilian NGO – represents a public commitment by leading corporations to join the Brazilian government in its concerted effort to eradicate abusive labor practices.

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