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Colombia passes law to track cattle and keep deforestation-linked beef out of supply chains

AP Photo/Fernando Vergara

By STEVEN GRATTAN Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- Colombia has enacted a landmark law requiring the cattle industry to trace livestock and prove beef supply chains are free from deforestation, a measure environmental groups say makes it the first tropical forest country to adopt such a nationwide framework.

The law requires government agencies and private companies to integrate cattle-tracking, land ownership and deforestation-monitoring systems to identify livestock linked to forest loss and keep them out of supply chains.

Supporters say the measure could help tackle one of the leading causes of deforestation in Colombia's Amazon, where cattle ranching has long been associated with land grabbing and the clearing of forests for pasture.

The law comes as Colombia seeks to reverse decades of forest loss, much of it driven by the expansion of cattle ranching into previously forested areas. Supporters say it could close longstanding loopholes that have allowed cattle raised on illegally cleared land -- including inside protected areas and national parks -- to enter legitimate supply chains and eventually reach supermarkets and export markets.

A demand for beef not linked to deforestation

Susanne Breitkopf, director of forest campaigns at the Environmental Investigation Agency U.S., an environmental watchdog that has investigated deforestation linked to Colombia's cattle industry, said the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations.

"It is a victory for forests, for the communities that protect them, and for consumers who demand that the beef they purchase does not contribute to deforestation and illicit economies," Breitkopf said.

The legislation also arrives as governments and businesses face growing pressure from international markets to demonstrate that commodities such as beef are not linked to deforestation. Environmental advocates say traceability systems are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for access to some overseas markets and could help authorities better identify land grabbing and illegal forest clearing by cutting down or burning forest.

Colombia has lost about 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) of forest -- an area roughly the size of Belgium -- according to organizations that supported the legislation, with the problem particularly acute in the Amazon region.

Creating a nationwide legal framework

Brazil's Amazonian state of Para has adopted traceability requirements for cattle producers and committed to tracking individual animals throughout the supply chain, but environmental groups say Colombia's law goes further by creating a nationwide legal framework.

A 2025 analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found that hundreds of thousands of cattle were transported between 2020 and 2024 from municipalities overlapping national parks.

The law is the result of years of campaigning by environmental organizations, researchers and lawmakers who argued that weak oversight allowed cattle linked to illegal deforestation to move through Colombia's fragmented supply chain.

Natalia Katixa Escobar, a researcher at Dejusticia, a Colombian legal and policy research center that has studied links between cattle ranching and deforestation, said the law helps bridge a longstanding divide between environmental and agricultural oversight.

"One of its first achievements is that it creates a bridge between environmental and agricultural policy," she said. "The control mechanisms associated with cattle ranching and cattle traceability had no environmental perspective."

Colombia's environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres told The Associated Press the government hopes the measure will help distinguish producers who operate responsibly from those linked to forest destruction.

"This means it will become increasingly difficult for the destruction of forests or economies associated with illegal activities to hide behind seemingly legitimate supply chains," Vélez said.

A 2-year timeline for implementation

Within six months, the government must establish programs to help suppliers comply with the new requirements, create a certification system for deforestation-free products and provide funding to strengthen monitoring systems in active deforestation hot spots.

Within a year, authorities must regulate procedures governing the country's cattle identification and traceability systems and establish due diligence requirements for deforestation-free cattle ranching.

By the end of the second year, slaughterhouses, meat processors, cattle auctions, traders and live cattle exporters will be required to implement due diligence policies and best practices aimed at ensuring their supply chains are free from deforestation.

The legislation also requires the gradual integration of government databases, allowing officials to compare information on land tenure, cattle ownership and forest loss for the first time.

Supporters say those measures could significantly improve authorities' ability to identify cattle raised on recently deforested land and prevent them from entering legal markets.

But the law's success will depend largely on implementation, including whether the government can adequately fund new systems and enforce the rules in remote regions where illegal deforestation remains widespread.

If fully implemented, supporters say, the law could become a model for other tropical forest nations seeking to protect forests while maintaining access to increasingly demanding international markets.

"The real test will be what happens on the ground," Escobar said, noting that while the law could improve oversight and information-sharing, reducing deforestation will also depend on governance and enforcement in remote regions of the Amazon.

"Whether it will significantly reduce deforestation in the Amazon remains to be seen," she said.

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