Brasília, September 22, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply (Mapa) questions a news item published last week in the American daily newspaper, "The New York Times," reporting the supposed deforestation of the Amazon region as a result of the growth of soybean cultivation in the region.

For the Brazilian government, this view is a reflection of agricultural protectionism on the part of developed countries, upset over the expansion of Brazilian agrobusiness. Soybean cultivation in the North of the country, where the Amazon forest is located, currently amounts to 211.5 thousand hectares, 0.06% of the region's total of 387 million hectares. In its note, the Mapa reaffirms "the federal government's permanent concern with the preservation of the environmental resources of the Amazônia as a way to promote agricultural activity that is self-sustaining and ecologically compatible with the region. For this reason, Brazil will not permit the Amazon forest to be deforested indiscriminately." (DAS)