Brazilian livestock farming, especially in Mato Grosso, has an unprecedented opportunity to show the world that it is possible to produce meat with environmental responsibility, social inclusion and economic viability. This story will soon be told with even more support, through an innovative initiative: the Green Passport.

Conceived by the Mato Grosso Meat Institute (Imac), the Green Passport is a pioneering program, created based on the Brazilian Forest Code and the monitoring guidelines of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF). It was built with dialogue and active participation of livestock farmers, meatpackers, the state government and public and private institutions — and was created with a clear objective: to ensure that meat from Mato Grosso continues to access the most demanding markets in the world, with solid sustainability credentials.

Unlike punitive or exclusionary initiatives, the Green Passport is an inclusive program, designed to support rural producers. It does not come to fine, but to guide. And more than that: it seeks to add value to livestock production, reducing illegal deforestation, valuing biodiversity, improving the balance of emissions per arroba and including small and medium-sized producers in the sustainability agenda.

The logic is simple: those who produce responsibly need a seal of approval to prove it. The passport will allow attestation that Mato Grosso beef was produced with low carbon emissions, in compliance with environmental legislation and everything monitored — attributes that the international market increasingly values.

The program is based on two pillars. The first is environmental compliance, made possible by the Reinsertion and Monitoring Program (Prem), which allows irregular producers to remain in the formal market while they work to regularize their situation. The second pillar is production intensification: encouraging the recovery of pastures, increasing productivity, reducing the age of slaughter and improving the quality of meat, with a direct impact on the carbon balance of the herd.

Another differentiator is the monitoring system. Unlike models currently used, such as the Brazilian System for Individual Identification of Cattle and Buffalo (Sisbov), the Green Passport offers a more practical approach, with simplified identification rules and quick and efficient replacement of earrings.

For producers, the benefits go beyond increasing the value of the product. Adhering to the Green Passport increases access to rural credit, facilitates environmental regularization with technical support, and creates opportunities in the carbon market — in addition to contributing to the reputation of the sector and the state as a global reference in sustainable livestock farming.

The goal is clear: to monitor animals from birth to slaughter, with total transparency. But the path will be built in stages, respecting the adaptation time of each producer. No one will be left behind.

This proposal did not come out of nowhere. It is the result of coordination between different sectors, with a pragmatic and modern vision of Brazilian rural production. Mato Grosso, which is already a leader in meat production, is also strengthening itself as a reference in sustainability, legality, and innovation.

The Green Passport represents a new phase for Brazilian livestock farming — a phase that combines production, preservation and prosperity. What other country can produce meat with such high quality and environmental responsibility?

The expectation is that the bill that formalizes the program will advance in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Mato Grosso in the coming weeks. It is time for Brazil to prove that it does indeed have the most sustainable meat in the world.

Source: Notícias Agrícolas