Brazil has recently elected a far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, who will take office on 1 January 2019. One of his first announced measures was the merger of the environment and agriculture ministries, with the promise of the top job in the new ministry to a group of parliamentarians with ties to agribusiness in, amongst other regions, the Amazon.

This measure jeopardises environmental protection in the country, leaving it in the charge of those most interested in undermining it. The Brazilian agricultural sector does not, by and large, recognise that environmental protection is paramount to ensure the continuity of agricultural production. It is therefore essential that governmental bodies committed to environmental protection around the world, as is the European Union, make it clear that continued imports of Brazilian agricultural products are contingent upon adequate protection of the environment on which all our livelihoods ultimately depend.

Brazil holds 60% of the largest tropical rainforest in the world, the Amazon, and is believed to have the largest biodiversity of any country on Earth. It is also the "single biggest exporter of agricultural products to the EU worldwide", according to the European Commission. The Union must not allow its demand for agricultural products to cause severe environmental damage which negatively affects us all.