Cattle and beef

Why cattle is the hardest case

Cattle is the most demanding sector we cover, because it is the only one where a movement document (the GTA transit permit) can be cross-referenced against an independent fiscal document (the NF-e invoice) to corroborate an animal’s origin. That cross-reference is what closes the origin-laundering blind spot known in the sector as boi de papel — “paper cattle”.

It matters here more than elsewhere because the chain typically has more intermediate links: an animal can pass through several properties — rearing, fattening — before final sale to the packer, and every intermediate link is an opportunity for the real origin to be lost or masked.

What gets checked

Each cattle supplier is checked against seven sources: CAR registration status, deforestation via INPE (PRODES for consolidated history, DETER for recent alerts), IBAMA embargoes, the Lista Suja forced-labour register, CNPJ registration status, federal sanctions (CEIS/CNEP), and the GTA×NF-e traceability cross-reference.

That set underpins both the EUDR — which requires geolocation and absence of deforestation associated with the origin — and the due diligence processes that major packers such as JBS, Marfrig and Minerva already apply publicly to their own chains, and increasingly expect indirect suppliers to be able to demonstrate too.

The indirect supplier is the weak point

Most compliance attention historically goes to the direct supplier — whoever sells to the packer. The paper-cattle pattern exploits exactly the opposite end: indirect suppliers, selling to an intermediate property before the final sale. That is the link where the GTA×NF-e check makes the biggest difference, because no other public cross-verification mechanism exists there.

If you are buying finished beef from a European or US importer’s perspective, this is the layer where a clean-looking direct chain can still carry a real problem two links back.

Common questions