CADE penalizes JBS and bans 'meat monopoly'
A complaint filed by the Parliamentary Agricultural Front froze purchases by Joesley Batista's group in Rondônia, Acre, and Mato Grosso; ranchers fear a monopoly and have organized a national movement in response.
247 - On Wednesday, the 4th, CADE (Brazil's antitrust agency) froze the purchase of three meatpacking plants by JBS in Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Acre. The decision was made after members of the Parliamentary Agricultural Front met with representatives of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense to express concern about the increasing concentration of the sector in Brazil, which has even generated a... National movement against the meatpacking monopoly."The concern that was conveyed to us is that JBS could close meat processing plants," explained the president of Cade, Vinícius Carvalho.
The council therefore reached an agreement with the company stipulating that the plants in question must remain operational and maintain the same production levels until a final analysis is conducted. The antitrust body signed three Agreements for the Preservation of the Reversibility of the Operation. One concerns the acquisition of Jema Participações by JBS in Rio Branco, Acre. A second concerns MJE Administradora de Bens, in Ariquemes, Rondônia. Also involved in the agreements is FR Participações, which is located in the cities of São Miguel do Guaporé, Rondônia, and Confresa, Mato Grosso.
With the agreements, the company can even expand the new plants it acquired, but it is prohibited from downsizing them. "In all cases, JBS commits to not altering the asset structure until the final judgment by Cade," the president reminded.