By Ana Mano and Manuela Andreoni

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -The fate of Brazil’s soy moratorium, a 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.

Brazilian antitrust regulator CADE launched a full-blown investigation this week as it suspended the 20-year agreement under which traders have vowed not to buy soybeans from recently deforested farms.

The agency’s General Superintendent Alexandre Barreto de Souza cited evidence suggesting the accord effectively created a cartel violating competition law.

However, both Brazil’s Environment Ministry and federal prosecutors, who back and monitor the moratorium, have mounted a public defense of

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