REFILE-Brazil's CADE sets date for key vote on soy moratorium appeal

By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Brazilian antitrust agency CADE's tribunal will begin to review an appeal made by oilseeds lobby Abiove and grain traders, including Cargill and Bunge BG.N, against a measure ordering the companies to suspend enforcement of the soy moratorium program.

According to a notice published in the official gazette on Wednesday, the six commissioners on CADE's tribunal will start voting on the appeal on September 30.

The fate of the moratorium, a 20-year-old corporate pact credited with slowing soy-driven deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, is hanging in the balance as government agencies clash over its legality, heightening risks for global grain traders in the world's top soybean producer and exporter.

The voluntary program, which bars some 30 firms from buying soybeans from farmers who cleared land in the Amazon after July 2008, also represents a potential breach of Brazilian competition law.

Last month, CADE General Superintendent Alexandre Barreto de Souza gave grain traders an order to suspend the moratorium or face hefty fines.

De Souza also initiated a full investigation after concluding a preliminary probe into the signatories of the program, citing evidence of the companies sharing commercially sensitive information.

The suspension was welcomed by farm groups, including Aprosoja Mato Grosso, who say the corporate agreement is unfair and keeps some farmers out of the market.

The general superintendent's decision, however, was criticized by grain trader lobbies, environmental groups like Greenpeace and Brazil's environment ministry.

One week after the moratorium's suspension by CADE, Abiove asked a federal court to block De Souza's decision and obtained a favorable ruling. An injunction was granted against the suspension until CADE's tribunal makes a final ruling on the appeal.