SAO PAULO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian environment

agency Ibama has notified 12 meatpacking plants, including two

operated by JBS SA, of an inspection into their

alleged involvement in a scheme to buy cattle from illegally

cleared land in the Amazon rainforest, according to a document

seen by Reuters on Friday.

Ibama on Thursday announced it was looking into 12 plants

for such violations, but did not name the companies.

JBS said it did not have access to Ibama's inspection

report and would need to review the findings.

Privately owned Frigol and Mercurio are also among the 12

beef producers under review, the document seen by Reuters

showed.

Frigol responded that Ibama had made a mistake, adding it

had not bought cattle from the farm the agency said had been

illegally razed.

Mercurio Chairman Lincoln Bueno told Reuters a third-party

firm monitors the origin of the animals it processes, and that

it does not do business with properties with environmental and

labor irregularities.

Ibama on Thursday said it was inspecting plants that were

"acquiring suspicious cattle, triangulated with 'clean' farms,

to disguise their illegal origin."

Ibama added that it had already fined six unnamed

meatpackers 4 million reais ($740,000) for directly buying 8,172

head of cattle from what it called "embargoed areas."

Ibama had also seized more than 7,000 head of cattle that

were on 2,100 hectares of farms it had blocked from commercial

use after illegal deforestation. It said it fined the violators

a total of 49 million reais ($9.04 million), without specifying

which companies or people they were.

"Producing, selling or buying cattle from these embargoed

areas is an environmental crime and those responsible are

fined," Ibama's statement said.

($1 = 5.4212 reais)