The certification is a consequence of requests from European clients who are beginning to request it based on this requirement that will exist starting next year.

The first certification of Uruguayan meat for export free of deforestation, sent to the European Union (EU) by air, was achieved, based on a venture in which the companies Farm & Forestry Management (FMS), LQSA and Mosaica SA-Sol acted. Golden.

URUGUAYAN MEAT EXPORTED TO ITALY AND SWITZERLAND

The management considers beef produced by a Uruguayan rancher, Sebastián Olaso Aguirre (Mosaica SA), with the Sol Dorado brand, destined for the Italian and Swiss markets.

As El Observador learned, in this commercial management there was no price differential, however it is considered a milestone taking into account that the aforementioned certification will be a necessary and mandatory condition for the entry of raw materials into the EU starting in January 2025. .

The certification of deforestation-free meat is a consequence of requests from European clients who are beginning to request it based on this requirement that will exist starting next year.

In the case of the Mosaica company, it is advancing in deforestation-free certification complementary to others, such as animal welfare, Grassfed, carbon neutral and Angus Beef.

The Sol Dorado brand belongs to the board of the Global Sustainable Beef Board (GRSB).

FMS SRL informed El Observador that the company has developed the methodologies, specific protocols and field work necessary to demonstrate and verify that the areas, establishments or products (raw materials) produced are free of deforestation of the native forest.

LSQA, for its part, carries out the verification of all the documentation that each case requires for the issuance of the Deforestation Free Certificate.

BACKGROUND: CARBON NEUTRAL MEAT FROM URUGUAY

Sol Dorado was a pioneer in another instance in 2021, when it carried out the first export of Carbon Neutral Meat from Uruguay and South America.

LSQA, it was indicated, as a third-party certification body, is a member of the GRSB board and is committed to the search for this type of solutions to enable access to meat product markets.

Global concern about biodiversity and particularly deforestation has led to the implementation of international regulations and guidelines.

With that as a framework, the European regulation for deforestation-free products - known as EUDR - establishes that raw materials and their derivatives that enter the European market from January 1, 2025 must have a deforestation-free certificate.

MEATS, BUT ALSO SOY, WOOD AND OTHERS

Free deforestation must be certified as of December 31, 2020, and includes the main raw materials produced by Uruguay and others (cattle, soy, wood, cocoa, coffee, palm oil and rubber) and their derivatives (such as meat , leather, products made from wood, soy flour and oil, chocolate, among others).