Rural credit: CNA goes to the Supreme Court against resolutions that take away producers’ rights.

The Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA) filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Wednesday (15), requesting the suspension of Resolutions No. 5,268/2025 and No. 5,193/24, of the National Monetary Council (CMN). According to the resolutions, financial institutions have been using, since April 1st, data from the Satellite Deforestation Monitoring Program (Prodes) as part of the analyses for granting credit to rural properties with an area greater than four fiscal modules, throughout the national territory. In practice, the measure created a new verification stage in rural credit operations using remote sensing data from a system that does not automatically differentiate between situations of legal deforestation, authorized by the competent environmental agencies, and cases of illegal deforestation, in addition to overlapping properties and deforestation polygons. “All regulations, under the misguided pretext of environmental protection, strip producers of the presumption of innocence, the right to due process, the right to a fair hearing, and the right to a full defense, culminating in the disregard for property rights,” says the CNA in the lawsuit. The CNA further alleges that the regulations impose a penalty before the producer has the opportunity to present a justification or defend themselves. “CMN Resolution 5268/2025 prohibits the granting of credit as a presumed and anticipatory measure of guilt, allowing the rural producer to demonstrate their regularity only after being penalized. While the financial institution does not analyze the evidence of regularity presented by the producer, there is a complete paralysis of credit supply with a high possibility of jeopardizing the harvest.” According to the lawsuit, “it is not possible to presume bad faith on the part of the producer who requests credit and then verify vegetation suppression through Prodes. First, because the suppression may have been legal; second, because it is a complete violation of the logic of fundamental rights.” In its arguments, the Confederation states that administrative regulations that directly impact the property rights of rural producers must be strictly related to all other fundamental rights. "Making access to credit impossible, without at least establishing a specific and peremptory deadline for the analysis of justifications, is to anticipate a guilt that cannot even exist." For the CNA, depriving rural producers of access to credit is the same as "condemning them not to produce." And that the economic scenario is "complex and delicate," with increases in fertilizer prices and a drop in commodity prices. "The vast majority of producers have no reserves to cover denials of access to credit, which will lead to a catastrophic scenario for the sector." The Argument of Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precept (ADPF) requesting the "precautionary measure" was sent to Minister Gilmar Mendes. 

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.