How Europe’s meat industry drives human rights abuses in Paraguay

The report documents systemic human rights violations in Paraguay's soy-growing regions, linking these abuses to major US commodity traders (ADM, Cargill, and Bunge) and European meat processors (2 Sisters and Danish Crown). It argues that voluntary sustainability certifications, specifically 'mass balance' schemes, act as accounting tricks that allow tainted soy to enter European supply chains. The document calls for mandatory due diligence legislation in the EU and UK to replace ineffective voluntary initiatives.

• Soy production in eastern Paraguay is linked to severe human rights abuses, including forced evictions, armed attacks, chemical poisoning, and the criminalisation of land defenders.
• The global soy trade in Paraguay is dominated by US firms, with ADM and Cargill handling approximately 40% of the country's soy exports.
• Global Witness traced supply chains connecting human rights violations in Paraguay to 2 Sisters, the UK's largest chicken company, and Danish Crown, Europe's largest meat processing company.
• The 'mass balance' certification system allows soy from non-certified or abusive farms to be mixed with certified soy, effectively laundering tainted products into the European market.
• Illegal agrochemical fumigations in regions like Canindeyú have caused deaths and severe health issues, with the UN finding that the Paraguayan government failed to investigate these violations.
• Paraguay exhibits extreme land inequality, where 12,000 people own 90% of the land, contributing to a Gini coefficient of 0.93.
• The Paraguayan state is accused of complicity through budget cuts to the Indigenous Institute (INDI) and the Land Institute (INDERT), and by failing to tax soy exports.
• Proposed EU legislation, including the Deforestation Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), contains loopholes that may allow companies to avoid due diligence on small-scale farmers.
• Industry trade bodies such as Fediol, Coceral, and FEFAC have lobbied the European Commission to remove requirements for geolocated traceability and segregation of soy.

APA

Global Witness (2022). How Europe’s meat industry drives human rights abuses in Paraguay. https://globalwitness.org/documents/106/Toxic_takeaways_EN_-_December_2022.pdf

Chicago

Global Witness. How Europe’s meat industry drives human rights abuses in Paraguay. 2022. https://globalwitness.org/documents/106/Toxic_takeaways_EN_-_December_2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=How Europe’s meat industry drives human rights abuses in Paraguay |date=1 December 2022 |url=https://globalwitness.org/documents/106/Toxic_takeaways_EN_-_December_2022.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitness2022how, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{How Europe’s meat industry drives human rights abuses in Paraguay}}, institution = {Global Witness}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://globalwitness.org/documents/106/Toxic_takeaways_EN_-_December_2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }