RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Aug 27, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A Brazilian court has reinstated a pact between commodities traders not to buy soybeans grown in deforested areas of the Amazon, a week after it was struck out as anticompetitive.

A federal judge overturned the decision by Brazil's competition regulator, Cade, to scrap the two-decade-old pact credited with slowing deforestation.

Cade had ruled that the 2006 deal, known as the soy moratorium, damaged competition and harmed oilseed exports.

Monday's court ruling, which AFP obtained, said that decision was "disproportionate and premature" and failed to take account of environmental assessments.

Greenpeace Brazil welcomed the judge's decision, saying that "suspending the moratorium carried the risk of encouraging further deforestation."

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soybeans, with international sales of 96.8 million tons between January and November 2024, according to the state-owned National Supply Company.

The soy moratorium is enforced by representatives of the industry and 30 major exporters, chiefly due to pressure from the European Union to act against Amazon deforestation.

They pledge not to trade soybeans from land deforested since 2008.

Cade's ruling had caused an outcry from environmental and climate campaigners.

The competition regulator had given traders ten days to withdraw from the pact or face heavy fines.

Brazil's powerful agribusiness lobby, which has considerable backing in Congress, has been pushing hard for the moratorium to be removed so that producers can grow soybeans deeper in the forest.

According to a report on the pact, soybean cultivation in the Amazon grew 344 percent between 2009 and 2022, while deforestation decreased 69 percent in the areas monitored by the agreement.