Supermarkets, food manufacturing companies and several restaurant chains with the intense pressure hit by campaigners for the environmental concerns, have appealed to Britain on Monday for having stringent regulations to stop the cutting of tropical forests for growing cocoa, palm oil and soy.
The food industry, has been under constant surveillance, especially in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia for triggering deforestation. So, Britain is planning to take active measures to regulate the supply chains.
Through an open letter, 20 large companies have graciously taken up the plan as a step forward , though stated, “It’s not currently envisioned to be enough to halt deforestation and we encourage the government to go further to … address this issue.”
Some of the 20 companies include supermarkets Tesco TSCO.L, Marks & Spencer MKS.L, Morrison’s MRW.L and Sainsbury’s SBRY.L, food manufacturers Unilever UNA.AS, Nestle NESN.S, Greencore Group GNC.L and McDonald’s Corp MCD.N and various livestock generators.
The companies desire that the new legislation applys to all deforestation and just not where it is illegal. Robin Willoughby, UK director of campaign group Mighty Earth stated that, “The proposed legislation would continue to allow rampant deforestation in hotspots such as Indonesia and Brazil.”
The companies further expressed their concern about the legislation not being followed by small firms who will be importing significant amount of items such as rubber, from sensitive forest areas.
