ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

Volkswagen Brazil, a subsidiary of the German automaker, acquired the Vale do Rio Cristalino ranch in the Amazon in the mid-1970s.

Between 1974 and 1986, hundreds of workers were recruited under irregular contracts to clear forests and prepare pastures. Evidence presented to the court included official reports, worker testimonies and documents from public agencies, all demonstrating a production model that relied on debt servitude, violence and subjugation to degrading conditions characteristic of modern slavery. Armed guards monitored and violently restrained workers who lived in poor housing, received inadequate food and lacked medical attention.

The prosecutors particularly criticised Volkswagen Brazil’s lack of interest in negotiating a settlement.

The court’s ruling imposes a R$165 million fine and requires the company to publicly admit responsibility, issue a formal apology, and implement a zero-tolerance audited policy for slave-labour conditions, publishing reports annually for three years. Volkswagen denies wrongdoing and will appeal. Volkswagen has announced it will appeal, stating it “defends the principles of human dignity and strictly complies with all applicable labour laws and regulations”. The court has imposed daily fines for non-compliance with each obligation, up to R$10,000 a day, per violation.