Beef sourced from cattle raised illegally on protected Indigenous lands in the Amazon rainforest may have ended up on European consumers’ plates, according to a Greenpeace Brazil report published on Thursday.
The investigation links two slaughterhouses owned by Brazilian meat giant JBS to farms managed by businessman Mauro Fernando Schaedler.
Greenpeace accuses him of moving cattle from a protected area, where farming is banned, to a compliant property before selling them to JBS—a practice known as cattle laundering.
These two slaughterhouses are licensed to export meat to several countries, including Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, China, and Japan. Greenpeace Italy identified meat from one of these facilities in Italian wholesale markets in July 2025.
The report comes shortly after the European Commission approved the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, which still requires consent from EU member states. If ratified, the deal could significantly increase meat exports to Europe.
Greenpeace emphasises that expanding pasture for cattle grazing and agricultural land to grow animal feed are among the leading drivers of Amazon deforestation.
The organisation warns that the EU-Mercosur agreement could exacerbate these destructive trends and estimates that JBS could earn up to €1.7 billion in pre-tax profits if the deal is approved, according to a study commissioned by Greenpeace Netherlands.
Greenpeace is urging EU leaders to reject the Mercosur trade accord and to fully enforce the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
