SEC Urged to Probe JBS Claims on Environment, Animal Welfare

Animal rights organizations have asked the SEC to investigate meatpacking giant JBS SA for allegedly misleading investors about its animal welfare and environmental practices in paperwork submitted to list the company on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Brazilian meatpacker also made misleading statements on its website and in sustainability reports, a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission stated. The Humane Society of the United States, Center for Biological Diversity, and Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic at Vermont Law and Graduate School said the company’s statements in its initial public offering paperwork violate US securities law and asked that the SEC toss the documents if an investigation proves them to be misleading.

“The Humane Society has been paying attention to what we see as clear discrepancies between JBS’ public promises and its actual practices,” Rebecca Cary, a managing attorney of animal protection law at the Humane Society, said. “We are extremely interested in the SEC investigating claims as it relates to animal welfare, and we implore them to take action based on these claims.”

The letter—dated June 17 but made public June 18—also asked the SEC to look into JBS’ subsidiaries.

A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment. JBS representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The letter is the latest criticism of practices at the company, which has sought to join a US stock exchange for more than a decade as it has expanded global operations. In January, a bipartisan group of senators including Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) made a similar request to the SEC. The senators asked the agency to “closely examine” the meatpacker’s IPO paperwork and to block the initial public offering if JBS doesn’t correct any flawed disclosures.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James in February sued the company’s American subsidiary, JBS USA, alleging it misled the public about its environmental goals and impact.

Environmental Concerns

The activist groups took issue with JBS’ widely advertised commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and its statements about deforestation practices.

The meatpacker has also “spun fairy tales” about requiring humane treatment for animals when animals in its supply chain are subject to severe overcrowding, excessive use of control devices like paddles, and other conditions that violate US Department of Agriculture policy on humane handling, the letter stated.

Starting next year, requirements that companies certify that commodities imported into the European Union do not originate in deforested lands could also pose a problem for JBS’ business, said Peter Brandt, an attorney with the Humane Society who helped write the letter.

“On the environmental side, the company has a long history of sourcing cattle from deforested lands in South America,” Brandt said. The IPO papers lack a plan for meeting the EU rules, he said, and the EU “is a major market for this company.”

The company and its subsidiaries also have published information on their websites and sustainability reports that is “unlawfully and materially deceptive” and “exposes investors to financially material risks,” the letter said.

A JBS subsidiary admitted as part of its required annual reporting that falling short of animal welfare expectations can harm performance, the letter stated, but wasn’t clear about its own operations.

“JBS and its subsidiaries are looking to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and that would really allow the company to raise a whole lot of capital from US investors,” Cary said. “Companies that are doing terrible things for animals and the environment are not a good investment bet. So investors and consumers really deserve accurate information.”