A study by Global Witness revealed that flawed audits conducted by the Norwegian company DNV GL between 2016 and 2019 hid JBS’s true exposure to deforestation in the Amazon. According to the investigation, JBS continued purchasing cattle from 144 farms in Pará with previously identified irregularities, in violation of its agreement with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF). The study indicates that DNV GL later ceased auditing the company and claimed that limitations in the audit methodologies may have accounted for the discrepancies between the Global Witness findings and the audit results.

The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF) found that JBS had a 32% non-compliance rate in the audit carried out in the state of Pará. This was the company’s worst performance in evaluations of the implementation of the Beef Terms of Adjustment of Conduct — an agreement between JBS, other meatpackers, and the MPF aimed at curbing deforestation in the Amazon region.

JBS agreed to pay R$5 million (approximately US$ 910,000 at that time) to a fund managed by the Pará Environment Secretariat after the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público Federal – MPF) found unsatisfactory results in audits of the Beef Terms of Adjustment of Conduct. The MPF noted that the company’s performance was inadequate in two rounds of audits conducted under the agreement, although JBS contested the audit methodology. As part of the settlement, the company also committed to auditing 100% of its cattle purchases in Pará and to opening two “green offices” in the state.