GTPS reaffirms public commitment

The Sustainable Livestock Working Group (GTPS) released last week a Public Commitment for the sustainable development of livestock farming, through chain connections, information dissemination and support for ongoing improvement, with the purpose of creating a balance between the economic, social and environmental pillars. In the document, the group points out the importance of all links in the chain and details the terms to which it is committed, such as advocating the rights and duties taken on with the enactment of the Brazilian Forest Code and continuously repudiating illegal deforestation, land grabbing, slave and child labour, and the invasion of indigenous lands, conservation units and parks.
"The value of the working group's public commitment lies in establishing a common agenda among its members by including all members of the value chain, particularly the productive sector, which had been feeling left out, to ensure that all members can make a collective move forward in promoting and strengthening sustainable livestock farming. The renegotiation of the commitment is giving us another chance to cooperate and put the working group at the centre of the debate," said Lisandro Inakake de Souza, coordinator of the Beef on Track Program.
 

See the full adapted agreement at Public Commitment of GTPS 
The Sustainable Livestock Working Group (GTPS) and all its members have undertaken a commitment for the sustainable development of livestock farming, through chain connections, information dissemination and support for ongoing improvement, with the purpose of creating a balance between the economic, social and environmental pillars. Our values are: ongoing improvement, transparency, good agricultural practices and legal compliance. 
This group recognises the importance of the law that establishes the general rules regarding the protection of vegetation, Permanent Preservation areas and Legal Reserve areas and that was approved after extensive debates (Forest Code Law 12.651/2012). We also acknowledge the recent passing of laws establishing the parameters of Payment for Environmental Services (Law 14.119/2021) and know that it still requires regulating. 
The implementation of these laws is essential for Brazil to be recognised for the conservation that occurs both in public and private areas, while it produces enough food to meet growing national and international demand. Unfortunately, a delay in the full implementation of these laws and more specifically of a few articles of the Forest Code, such as articles 41, 42 and 59, have been detrimental to the country's agricultural and livestock sector. 
GTPS is a multi-player forum for all links in the chain and is aimed at fostering the development of sustainable livestock farming in all biomes as well as helping to increase food security and climate maintenance. 
The demand for beef is expected to increase in coming years and Brazil is in a unique position to produce more food, cooperating to conserve biodiversity, carbon stocks and ecosystem and environmental services that will enable the long-term sustainability of productive activities. 
Therefore, all GTPS members are committed to: 
• Ensuring that the rights and duties gained with the enactment of the Brazilian Forest Code can be fully exercised, enabling Brazil to become a benchmark in agricultural sustainability from the environmental, social and economic aspect. 
• Supporting the prioritization and progress of the analysis of the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) in all state and federal entities, as well as the analysis and approval of the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA) with the urgency that production requires. 
• Encouraging an inclusive approach for the full enforcement of the Brazilian Forest Code, allowing producers who are legally applicable to regularise their properties quickly. 
• Helping to implement compensation mechanisms (Environmental Reserve Credits - CRA), conservation (Payment for Environmental Services - PSA) and other mechanisms to accelerate environmental compliance. 
• Supporting land tenure regularisation in public and private areas to settle territorial occupation, recognising the right to property, giving legal security to landowners and not condoning illegal occupation. 
• Creating mechanisms to reward producers who preserve native vegetation beyond the amount required by law, and/or that present higher levels of sustainability. 
• Encouraging the sustainable intensification and improvement of degraded pastures, promoting the efficient use of resources, integration with other crops (Integration of Plantation Pasture Forest - ILPF) and reducing the age at slaughter, to improve the carbon balance of the production chain. 
• Making available, disseminating and implementing the GIPS (Sustainable Livestock Farming Indicators Guide), a tool that provides guidelines in the form of indicators to help assess the property's level of sustainability, with the purpose of identifying what needs to be improved and suggesting how this can be done based on Brazilian laws, good practice protocols and global sustainability principles. 
• Highlighting the role of the country both in terms of environmental laws and conservation, when presenting the challenges and problems related to deforestation in Brazil using data from institutions recognized by the working group. 
• Continuously repudiating illegal deforestation, land grabbing, slave and child labour, and the invasion of indigenous lands, conservation units and parks. 
• Involving all GTPS categories in the search for efficient and integrated solutions to overcome the challenges faced by the livestock value chain and understanding that the exclusion of players should be seen as the last applicable alternative. 
Through this document, GTPS reaffirms its commitment to the development of more sustainable livestock farming and the engagement of its members in this mission, in line with the complementary individual commitments undertaken by the member institutions.