BENCHMARKING OF SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATIONS

ROUND TABLE ON RESPONSIBLE SOY – RTRS

BASE DOCUMENT

Certification Standard: RTRS Standard for Responsible Soy Production. Version 4.0.

The Round Table on Responsible Soy – RTRS is a certification standard with a strong presence in the soy production chain. The standard is an initiative of the International Association for Responsible Soy that began its development in 2004, with approval and implementation between 2010 and 2011. Its information is published and made available for free consultation. As far as this study is concerned, only in 2016 did it include the obligation of zero deforestation and zero conversion in the environmental protection areas of soy-producing farms. As informed by the RTRS, in 2020, 4,437,276 tons of grains were certified, covering 1,261,133 hectares of area, of which 563,047 hectares are protected areas in 9,536 certified farms. All information can be consulted through the website https://responsiblesoy.org/

The RTRS mission is to promote the growth of production, trade, and use of responsible soy through cooperation with actors in and around the soy value chain, from production to consumption in an open dialogue with the participants, including producers, suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, financial institutions, civil society organizations and other relevant actors.

The objectives of the RTRS are:

1. RTRS refrains from profit making.

2. The objectives of the RTRS are to promote the growth of production, trade and use of responsible soy through cooperation with stakeholders relevant to the soy value chain, from production to consumption, in an open dialogue with stakeholders, including producers, suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, financial institutions, civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders.

3. Responsible soy is economically viable, socially beneficial, and environmentally appropriate. In particular, the RTRS should facilitate a global dialogue on responsible soy:

● as a forum to discuss and develop solutions, with the aim of reaching consensus, on the main economic, social and environmental impacts of soy among various stakeholders;

● communicating issues relating to the production, processing, trade and responsible use of soy in commercial products, and consumption to a wide range of global stakeholders;

● as a forum to develop and promote definitions of responsible soy production, processing, trade and consumption with criteria that address economic, social and environmental issues incorporated in the RTRS Standards through its Principles, Criteria, Indicators and Verification and Accreditation System;

● mobilizing participants for the multi-stakeholder process;

● organizing conferences and technical workshops;

● as a recognized international forum that controls the status of responsible soy production, processing, trade and consumption.

4. The RTRS is a transparent and open organization that unites stakeholders, making every effort to disseminate and promote its processes to the public and share its results and conclusions developed in the RTRS Standards through its Principles, Criteria, Indicators and System of Verification and Accreditation with members and non-members.

5. It is fundamental to the integrity, credibility and continued progress of the RTRS that each member sincerely supports, implements and monitors this multistakeholder global process that promotes the responsible production, processing, trade and consumption of soy.

To determine deforestation characteristics, the RTRS uses macroscale maps in which it classifies areas into the following categories:

Category 1 red –critical areas for biodiversity, not allowing the conversion of native vegetation. Not certifiable, except legal proof prior to May 2009.

Category 2 yellow –high conservation value area (HCVA) conversion is not allowed after June 2016.

Category 3 dark green –enough legislation to control the expansion, being areas of agricultural importance, except RL, not being allowed to convert after June 2016.

Category 4 light green –areas already used for agricultural exploitation, with no remaining native vegetation, except RL, with conversion not allowed after June 2016.

2, 3 and 4 legally converted by June 2016 are certifiable.

A minimum standard for the plan to implement or monitor native vegetation and wildlife is established and must address:

1. Identification of native vegetation and wildlife on the farm.

2. Indicators and baseline status of native vegetation and wildlife.

3. Measures to preserve native vegetation and wild life.

4. Monitoring and adaptive management.

The chart below illustrates compliance with the four principles used in the benchmarking analysis among sustainability standards. This graphic highlights that the RTRS is the most complete and comprehensive standard regarding deforestation. According to the RTRS map, certain situations include zero deforestation, with verification carried out by the producer before the certification audit to assess the eligibility of his farm. The review mechanism and criteria are transparent and accessible to all stakeholders.

The RTRS requires compliance with local legislation, such as labor legislation, legislation applicable to commercial relations, land and water use rights, and environmental issues more broadly. It additionally has modules for traceability and volume control of certified products through a chain of custody system.

The RTRS is comprehensive in terms of stakeholder relationships. The standard requires the implementation and maintenance of accessible communication channels for the communities surrounding the rural property.

Additionally, the implementation of an environmental management system is required to cover the risks related to environmental preservation and the impacts arising from agricultural activities. Risks must be managed in a participatory manner, together with stakeholders and the community.

The RTRS standard has strict criteria of good agricultural practices in relation to the management and conservation of soil, water resources, including the conservation of riparian vegetation. The practices extend to ecological processes and environmental preservation through the correct use of agrochemicals and the mitigation of the risk of pollution. This aspect includes waste management.

The RTRS defines deforestation dates according to the classification and zoning of the areas mentioned above. In this sense, whichever is more restrictive must be complied with. The maximum level determines zero deforestation, not allowing the farm to be eligible for certification.

The RTRS has a specific module for complying with EU RED II, when the scope of certification includes trade with the European Union for the purpose of supplying raw material for biofuels.

Areas of High Conservation Value (HCV) are, according to the RTRS, biological, ecological, social or cultural areas of exceptional or critical importance. The standard classifies six types of HCV, namely:

HCV1 - concentrations of biological diversity. It includes endemic, rare, threatened or endangered species, regardless of geographic range.

HCV2 - intact forest landscapes, large forest ecosystems and ecosystem mosaics that contain viable populations of most naturally occurring species in natural patterns of distribution and abundance.

HCV3 - rare, threatened or endangered habitats, refuges or ecosystems.

HCV4 - basic ecosystem services in a critical situation, including protection of water intakes and erosion control of vulnerable soils and slopes.

HCV5 - key locations and resources to meet the basic needs of local communities or indigenous peoples (livelihoods, health, nutrition, water, etc.) identified through engagement with such communities or indigenous peoples.

HCV6 - sites, resources, habitats and landscapes of global or national cultural, archaeological or historical importance and/or of critical cultural, ecological, economic or religious/sacred importance to the traditional cultural identity of local communities or indigenous peoples, identified through engagement with local communities or indigenous peoples.

The RTRS defines deforestation as “loss of natural forest resulting from: i) conversiontoagricultureorothernon-forestlanduse; ii) iii) ii)conversiontotreeplanting;or iii)severeandsustaineddegradation.

It further defines thatthe severedegradationofscenarioiiiconstitutesdeforestation evenifthelandisnotsubsequentlyusedfornon-forestrypurposes.Lossofnatural forestthatmeetsthisdefinitionisconsidereddeforestation,regardlessofitslegality”.

The RTRS annually publishes reports and results on its website, as well as the audit result, hiding sensitive information that could expose people.

The RTRS standard is the only voluntary certification program present in the market, open to the market through which the producer can decide who to sell his production to, that is, there is no market restriction to sell his crop.

RTRS certification encourages access to soy markets that are more restrictive in terms of deforestation and can encourage producers through market entry and additional credit payments on the volume of sustainable soy produced, that is, the volume of certified material.

The RTRS is the most restrictive program regarding deforestation. Farms wishing to become certified are required to eligibility, and the criteria are defined in their sustainability standard. Additionally, the farm can be certified in compliance with the requirements of European legislation for raw materials from agriculture and the legal aspects of eligibility of the area converted into agriculture after January 2008.

The RTRS has a transparent mechanism for publicizing the results of certified properties. Interested buyers can assess their customers' compliance with the standard's indicators, ensuring that only eligible farms have been certified.

An important aspect is that, following its criteria, small grouped producers can be group certified, minimally requiring that there be a common management system to monitor compliance with its requirements.

One factor that may be limiting is the cost of investment and maintenance of certification for small producers.

Deforestation criteria can be restrictive for the entry of rural producers, which excludes them from the deforestation monitoring system that certified farms must comply with. In this sense, those who are not eligible or those who fail to comply with the deforestation requirements are not certified and are no longer covered by the surveillance audits that directly contribute to the reduction of deforestation.