One of JBS’s main characteristics in the context of its value chain is its role as a benchmark, especially in responsible procurement of raw materials. This position has a significant influence on the value chain, from raw material suppliers adopting good practices to the final quality of products.

In this sense, JBS encourages and develops actions geared toward enhancing supplier management and practices, by working on two fronts: supplier relationships and guarantee of origin.

Supplier relationships

JBS understands that its relationship with suppliers is essential and relevant to the prosperity of the value chain. That is why the Company developed a series of actions to build closer relationships with its stakeholders that are based on confidence, respect, ethics and transparency. Learn more about what is being done by each business in Chapter 3 – Our Business.

With a regular dialog with its suppliers, especially in relation to matters related to respecting human rights and national and local labor laws, JBS has been a signatory of the National Pact to Eradicate Slave Labour since 2007, and has been a member of the Institute for the National Pact to Eradicate Slave Labour (InPACTO) since 2014.

The Company’s approach to managing impacts in its supply chain includes constant and consistent collaboration with our suppliers. The majority of whom, are bound by contract to follow state laws and regulations, JBS also establishes long-term relationships in different locations, which contribute to the continued progress of its supply programs.

In integrated poultry and pork chains, JBS units works with producers, partnering to guarantee the origin of raw materials. The inputs needed to develop safe and healthy breeding are provided through this relationship. In addition, regular technical visits are held, providing advice on production management, environmental practices and animal welfare.

At every stage, from genetic selection of animals to transportation of products for sale, a management system guarantees compliance with the strictest standards. Having greater control over animals’ health and nutrition makes it possible to minimize the risk of contamination and diseases, while simultaneously augmenting quality assurance, food safety, product cost efficiency and fulfillment of customer specifications.

In Brazil, all livestock in the beef chain is acquired from third-party suppliers in order to guarantee best practices, and the Company develops relationship programs and training materials for its suppliers around the world.

Cattle Purchase Monitoring – Headquarters (SP)

Guarantee of origin

At JBS, the acquisition of raw materials is based on the principles of responsible procurement; this means they are based not only on compliance with federal and local regulations, but also in line with the most sustainable practices in the sector. This is where the Company’s guarantee of origin begins.

This commitment could result in cancellation of contracts when irregularities or incompatible practices are found. That is why there are control mechanisms at various stages of the process.

In integrated poultry and pork chains, efforts to guarantee origin is through oversight of farms and producers. In Brazil, Seara uses tracking systems to quickly identify and, if necessary, isolate farms with any problems related to quality or safety. Technology also helps monitor treatment of birds at every stage of their lives and the production process.

Amazon

JBS is committed to combating, discouraging and eliminating deforestation of its supply chain in the Amazon. A pioneer in sustainable development initiatives in the region, the Company’s activities are based on a Raw Material Responsible Procurement Policy, which establishes social and environmental criteria for selecting cattle suppliers. 

Over the last 10 years, JBS has made substantial investments to make one of the largest private supplier monitoring systems in the world viable. Using satellite images and georeferenced data on supplier farms, the system monitors an area of 450,000 km² (45 million hectares) located in the Legal Amazon, equal to the size of Germany.

The Company assesses 50,000 farms daily to avoid purchasing animals from properties involved with deforestation of old growth forests, invasion of indigenous lands and environmental preservation areas or areas listed as under embargo by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Natural Resources (Ibama). JBS does not acquire cattle from suppliers involved with rural violence or agrarian conflicts or that use child or forced labor. During this period, around 9,000 cattle supplier farms have been blocked by the monitoring system for failing to comply with social and environmental requirements.

As part of its commitment to transparency, the Company’s cattle procurement operations and its entire supplier monitoring system are audited annually by independent auditors, with results published to the Company’s website. Audits have shown that in recent years, over 99.9% of JBS’s cattle purchases from farms located in the Amazon region were compliant with the Company’s social and environmental criteria.

In 2019, the DNV-GL company of Norway, an international reference in social and environmental auditing, consulting and certifications, confirmed that 100% of cattle acquisitions made by the Company in the Amazonian biome were socially and environmentally compliant.

JBS makes efforts to enhance industry standards, through open dialog and by engaging stakeholders in order to improve sustainability across the industry’s entire value chain. The Company is a founding member of the Brazilian Roundtable on Sustainable Livestock (BRSL), part of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB), and a member of the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA), an initiative connected to the World Economic Forum, fostering and promoting actions aimed at ending deforestation in the world.

The Company is also a member of the Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture, which works collaboratively on issues connected to climate change. It is also a supporter of the “Be Legal in the Amazon” initiative, led by the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (ABAG), the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (ABIEC), and other institutions who work to combat illegal occupation of public lands and deforestation in the Amazon.

JBS was the first company in the food industry in Brazil to become a member of InPACTO, a multi-stakeholder organization combating the use of forced labor in the country’s main production chains.

In partnership with the Federal Prosecution Office of Brazil and the Institute for Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (Imaflora), JBS has made important contributions to building industry strategies for responsible cattle procurement in the Amazon, called Boi na Linha (https://www.beefontrack.org/), which establishes criteria for purchasing raw material for the Company’s operations in the region.

The Company’s goal for 2020 and beyond is to develop a project for reforestation of environmental liabilities in the Legal Amazon in partnership with its cattle suppliers and civil society organizations.

JBS believes that the industry can continue to prosper by using new technologies and through greater productivity, without deforestation in the Amazon, and invites all industry players to join its commitment to protect this important biome and remove incentives that could encourage deforestation.