Posted on 17 June 2011
Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Round Table
on Responsible Soy (RTRS) concluded its
annual conference on Thursday with a note
of optimism about its progress, buoyed by
the announcement
earlier this month of the first RTRS certified
farms and the renewed commitment expressed
by buyers and funders for certified soy.
The meeting, June 15-16,
focused on sharing lessons learned by RTRS
producers, and their progress toward certification,
as well as progress and challenges faced
by buyers of soy. The Brazilian soy producer
AMaggi shared its experience about its efforts
to certify two of its farms in Matto Grosso
state, which were the first soy farms to
be awarded certification according to RTRS
standards.
These milestone certifications
were celebrated at an event on June 8 in
Rotterdam, marking a major step forward
for the RTRS. The Dutch organization IDS
(Initiative Sustainable Soy), which includes
feed industry and major companies, committed
to buying 85,000 tonnes of this first certified
soy, initiating the opening of the global
market for RTRS soy.
“This tangible progress by RTRS producers
and buyers are the first steps in building
a mainstream market for responsible soy,”
said Cassio Moreira, Coordinator of WWF
Brazil’s Agriculture and Environment Program.
“This meeting provided
an opportunity for proud members to reflect
on this critical milestone and discuss how
to increase the momentum for increased uptake
of RTRS soy.”
Other presentations
by the International Finance Corporation
(IFC), the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative
(IDH), and the German Agency for International
Cooperation, (GIZ) highlighted programmes
to provide financial and technical to the
companies on the soy value chain to become
RTRS compliant.
Moreira added, “It was
gratifying to see that WWF’s sense of urgency
is shared by other RTRS members – because
multi-member bodies like this round table
are becoming increasingly important to protect
the environment.
“In Brazil, the proposed
revision of the Forest Code currently threatens
millions of hectares of tropical biomes.
Whatever the outcome of these policy discussions
in Brazil, it is clear that we cannot depend
on government policies alone, so therefore
the RTRS as a market driven initiative is
more important than ever to help stop deforestation
in Latin America.”
