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This page is synchronized from trase/data/brazil/logistics/gta/brazil_gta_docs.md. Last modified on 2026-09-20 13:50 CEST by Nicolas Martin. Please view or edit the original file there; changes should be reflected here after a midnight build (CET time), or manually triggering it with a GitHub action (link).

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Brazil GTA data

The Animal Transit Guides (GTA - Guia de Trânsito Animal) is an official document required in Brazil to authorise the movement of animals between properties or regions, serving as a crucial tool for animal health surveillance and control. Regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA) and implemented by state-level agencies, the GTA ensures the traceability of livestock and helps prevent the spread of animal diseases.

What the dataset is

Each GTA contains detailed information such as the origin and destination of the animals, the owner’s identification, the type and quantity of animals, the purpose of the transport (e.g., slaughter, sale, reproduction), vaccination status, and transportation details.

Prior to 2019, we obtained the data directly from state-level systems or websites, as there was no centralised national database accessible to the public. Each state has its own system and policies regarding data disclosure - some provided full records, others only summary statistics, and some did not disclose data at all. As a result, the coverage and completeness of the data varies significantly across states and years. From 2019 onwards, we began to obtain the GTA information mainly through Repórter Brasil's Rota do Gado initiative. Here a Looker dashboard showing the GTAs we have per state and year, as well as the sources from where they were gathered.

How to update the GTA data

As of 2026-08, GTA updates rely on data from Rota do Gado's API, which is downloaded and saved as json files in s3. Find details and instructions in trase/data/brazil/logistics/gta/gta_update/Readme.md. Keep in mind that downloading the GTAs can take up to two weeks on a process running 24x7.

Once the raw data is saved in s3, this is ingested into BigQuery, as specified in trase/data/brazil/logistics/gta/gta_update/Readme.md

How we use the dataset in Trase

In Trase we use the data to analyze relations between farms and slaughterhouses: which farms send to which slaughterhouses and how many animals they send. Also for some indicators (for example slave labor), we check if direct or tier-1 farms have been listed for slave labor, as well as how many animals and through which GTAs this has reached slaughterhouses.

For the CIFF (Children's Investment Fund Foundation) project, the GTA data will also be used to support the mapping of indirect supply to slaughterhouses, including their exposure to deforestation. For this we match the farms data with the CAR data, to know the location of the farms - additional to the municipality they belong to.

How often the dataset is updated, and when the next update is likely to be

The GTA data that Repórter Brasil gathers is continuously updated, though also according to the availability of the different state's data. Trase gathers this data through an authenticated API that returns the GTA data per CNPJ requested. For the CNPJs that Trase is mapping, this process can take around 10 days - as each CNPJ GTA retrieval takes several seconds.

We have done two full retrievals of this data (in 2023 and in March 2025), and probably will continue retrieving on a yearly basis, unless there is a need to update some analysis or indicators with more frequency.

When the dataset was last updated, and by whom

  • Nicolás in March 2025
  • Nicolás in 2023

Acceptance criteria for a sufficient level of quality of the dataset

Since GTA records are managed at the state level, each state has the autonomy to decide which information will be made publicly available. Incompleteness of the data can be seen when there are drastic reductions of the available GTAs from a state between years. Ideally, this should also be compared against available summary statistics from the state - be it based on the GTAs or other statistics on their production data. For example, Pará has started to make the summary statistics available in an ADEPARÁ Looker dashboard here -> Dados públicos -> Dados Trânsito Animal.

Summary of GTA data

See also some of this data in the Trase's GTA Looker Dashboard here

Transport Year GTA Records PA Records GO Records TO Records
2012 414,712 855 15 -
2013 423,032 816 28 -
2014 104,103 13,926 31 73
2015 4,423,242 217,364 2,095 11,005
2016 4,905,162 421,475 99,990 117,925
2017 5,250,412 430,343 39,462 329,815
2018 5,899,226 532,874 309,041 307,314
2019 3,902,397 334,558 714,599 307,533
2020 2,462,377 373,014 862,654 267,901
2021 2,473,512 388,728 919,269 292,245
2022 1,873,533 381,755 886,079 293,836
2023 1,803,745 75,799 1,019,736 344,266
2024 2,094,754 4,108 979,907 364,959
2025 2,204 12 38 1,429
  • Analyzing the total number of GTA records available per year, we observe a steady increase from 2012 to 2018. Starting in 2019, however, the overall volume of records begins to decline.
  • Since GTA data is managed at the state level, comparing the record counts from the states of Pará (PA), Goiás (GO), and Tocantins (TO) provides insight into how regional dynamics influence data availability:
  • In Pará (PA), there's a notable drop in the number of available records beginning in 2023.
  • Conversely, the availability of GTA data for Goiás (GO) and Tocantins (TO) has increased, with both states showing consistent yearly totals.
  • For GO, since 2019, the annual number of GTA records has ranged between 700,000 and 1,000,000 — a significant jump compared to the fewer than 350,000 records per year in earlier periods. In TO, record availability has remained steady at around 300,000 annually since 2017.

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{% docs brazil_ciff_pa_car_gta_join %}

Brazil Pará GTA - CAR data join

Additional to the property polygons available through the national CAR registry (through the SICAR online system), Pará has additional data from the state environment authority (SEMAS). The SEMAS data was downloaded from their transparency portal (visible only within Brazil or through a VPN), includes key variables such as the property name and, crucially, the owner's details — CPF/CNPJ and name. These attributes are essential for linking CAR data with GTA transactions, which is necessary to assess outcomes like deforestation linked to specific properties. See here more details about the CAR data and the SICAR - SEMAS join.

The main challenge in the matching process lies in the quality and consistency of the data. Owner and property names often contain typographical errors or appear in alternate forms, such as abbreviations or spelling variations. As a result, matching GTA transactions with CAR records is not straightforward. The project focuses on developing and applying methods to improve the accuracy of this matching process.

In some cases, when the tax identification number is complete and correctly formatted, and there is only a possible match within a municiaplity, it can serve as a reliable key for linking CAR and GTA records.

Summary of the GTA - CAR data join

  • When using tax identifiers (CPF/CNPJ) as the primary key to link CAR and GTA datasets, only a portion of the records can be successfully matched. The table below summarises the proportion of matches identified in this way by year.
year gta_taxn_count car_match_count matching_proportion
2023 20,182 15,621 77.4
2022 59,805 39,135 65.44
2021 63,269 39,760 62.84
2020 57,807 38,661 66.88
2019 67,658 44,679 66.04
2018 75,101 47,469 63.21
2017 73,378 45,680 62.25
2016 72,502 44,361 61.19
2015 70,764 42,481 60.03
2014 10,114 6,708 66.32
2013 129 58 44.96
2012 108 56 51.85

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