The Level of Supply Chain Control
The Supply Chain Control Level assesses meatpacking plants’ commitment to monitoring and avoiding the purchase of beef linked to deforestation. It is used to calculate companies’ scores for the Level of Commitment Against Deforestation. The score is based on an analysis of public information and responses to the Radar Verde questionnaire sent to companies.
After 30 days—the period set for submitting responses and evidence—the Radar Verde team analyzes and classifies the establishments. Companies with a high degree of control demonstrate that they do not purchase meat from direct or indirect suppliers linked to deforestation.
Below, we detail the criteria used to calculate the Chain Control Level score.
Evaluation Criteria for Meatpackers
The total score is the weighted sum of two aspects:
- Control Policy Characteristics – Evaluates the existence, clarity, and scope of the deforestation control policy.
- Policy Implementation – Measures the effectiveness of control through independent audits and evidence of compliance.
The score is divided into:
- 50% – Control of direct suppliers (farms that sell cattle ready for slaughter).
- 50% – Control of indirect suppliers (farms that supply calves and young cattle).
Score Calculation
The Control Level score is calculated based on the following factors:
Control Policy Characteristics
This section evaluates the structure and scope of the policy and accounts for 20% of the total score. The calculation includes:
- Policy Analysis – Verification of the policy stated by companies in the questionnaire or in public information.
- Policy Coverage – Measures how much of the company’s operations are covered by the policy’s rules. For example: If the policy applies to all meat-processing plants or all suppliers, coverage is 100%. If the policy covers only half of the operations, coverage is 50%.
Control Policy Implementation
Implementation accounts for 80% of the total score and assesses whether companies actually enforce their policies. The factors considered are:
- External Audit Results – If all purchases in the Cerrado comply with anti-deforestation policies, the score is 100%.
- Audit Coverage – Assesses the proportion of operations audited. For example, If all units or suppliers are audited, coverage is 100%.
If only part of the operations is audited, the score is proportional.
This process allows Radar Verde to assess, in a transparent and objective manner, companies’ commitment to sustainability in the beef supply chain.
Figure 2. Components of the Chain Control Level calculation.
The Supply Chain Control Level Questionnaire
The questionnaire for assessing the Supply Chain Control Level is administered to meatpacking plants and is divided into two main sections: policy characteristics and implementation performance.
Meatpacking companies are evaluated based on the policies applicable to their direct and indirect suppliers. The questionnaire includes questions about the requirements imposed on supplier farms to ensure that:
- Cattle suppliers have not engaged in deforestation after a specific date following 2008;
- Supplier farms are not on the lists of embargoed areas published by IBAMA, ICMBio, and state environmental agencies;
- Farms do not overlap with Indigenous Lands recognized by a declaratory ordinance of the Ministry of Justice or by an act of FUNAI;
- Farms do not overlap with Conservation Units at the federal, state, and municipal levels;
- Suppliers must not have a first-instance court conviction—and until such a conviction is overturned by higher courts—for invasion of Indigenous Land, agrarian violations, land grabbing, and/or deforestation and other agrarian conflicts;
- The supplier’s participation in the Environmental Regularization Program.
The questionnaire also verifies the policy’s coverage, that is, how many of the company’s units it applies to. Additionally, meatpacking plants must submit independent audits attesting to the effective implementation of these policies.
Level of Commitment Against Deforestation
The Level of Commitment Against Deforestation considers two main analytical axes:
- Level of Control of the Supply Chain (segmented between direct and indirect farms), which assesses whether the company has and demonstrates the implementation of a policy for purchasing deforestation-free cattle.
- Level of Ambition of the Commitment, which analyzes whether the company permits illegal deforestation (lower weight: 0.8) or also legal deforestation starting in 2023 (higher weight: 1) in its cattle purchasing policy.
In the assessment, points are distributed across each evaluated item as follows:
Social and environmental policy (20% weighting): the quality of the anti-deforestation policy and the scope of its application are assessed, with the result adjusted by the level of ambition of the company’s commitment, which corresponds to the type of policy adopted: zero-deforestation policies receive a factor of 1, while policies restricted solely to illegal deforestation receive a factor of 0.8.
Independent audits (80% weighting): the results and coverage of external audits conducted by companies are considered, with scores also adjusted according to the level of ambition of the company’s commitment, applying a factor of 1 for zero-deforestation policies and 0.8 for policies limited to illegal deforestation.
The score is calculated separately for direct and indirect farms in the meatpacking plants’ supply chain and is subsequently combined, with equal weight assigned to both links (50%). This approach rewards companies with more robust commitments and encourages greater transparency and control throughout the entire production chain.
