Statement on Recent JBS Shareholders Vote
Press release
For immediate release.
Contact: Jeanne Turkheimer
JeanneTurkheimer@worldanimalprotection.us
"World Animal Protection is disheartened with the shareholders of JBS, the world’s largest meat company and a notorious perpetrator of immense animal cruelty and environmental destruction. Despite long-running demonstrations, advocacy, and reports speaking out against the company’s practices and flagrant disregard for communities, animals, and ecosystems, shareholders voted to approve a proposal to create a new parent company registered in the Netherlands and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This move gives one of the worst corporate citizens access to even greater capital, which it will use to continue expanding its reach and enacting harm around the globe.
Research published by World Animal Protection has implicated the company in purchasing cattle from farms that have encroached on Indigenous lands and illegally deforested sensitive areas in Brazil. We’ve also documented the egregious lengths the company has gone to establish subsidiaries in tax havens to avoid millions in taxes it otherwise would have owed to the US and other countries where it operates. Most recently, JBS announced plans to invest $2.5 billion in constructing factory animal farms in Nigeria, a strategy that is likely to disenfranchise local farmers in the country and worsen food insecurity in the region.
This is more than just a vote to shift to public corporate listing. It is a green light for JBS and other multinational meat companies to rake in enormous profits at the expense of animals, farmers, and communities. The news hits especially hard within the broader geopolitical context which continues to advance the power of large corporations and interest groups over the rights of animals, citizens, and the environment.
The world is watching. We implore the NYSE to do the right thing and reject JBS’ listing."
Cameron Harsh, Interim US Executive Director