NGOs send formal notice to French supermarket Casino to comply with duty of care law after reports linked its beef supply chain to deforestation in South America
On 21 September, an international coalition of associations (Canopée, CPT, Envol Vert, Mighty Earth, Notre Affaire à Tous, and Sherpa) together with representative Indigenous organisations from Colombia and Brazil (OPIAC, COIAB, FEPIPA and FEPOIMT) sent formal notice to the French supermarket Casino Group to comply with its obligations under the French Duty of Vigilance law. The organisations are calling on the supermarket to take all necessary measures to exclude beef linked to illegal deforestation and grabbing of Indigenous territories in its supply chains in Brasil and Colombia.
It follows a report published by the NGO Envol Vert in June 2020 citing evidence that links meat products sold in Casino supermarkets to farms involved in illegal deforestation (the company's response is available here).
The company now has three months to respond, if the company fails to act within the deadline, the organisations have said they intend to refer the matter to the court. It is the seventh formal notice issued to a French company since the Duty of Care law came into force.