Soy

Soy is a multi-functional crop that can be used as food, feed or fuel. Two-third of the annual production of 200 million tons is used for animal feed, twenty percent for food and the remaining for industrial purposes.

Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia are major soy producers, jointly contributing some 60% of the global production. The Netherlands is a very important player in the soy industry; after China it is the world's biggest importer, processing thousands of tons a day.

Apart from generating revenues for production countries and vegetable oils and protein to feed the world, soy production and expansion entail particular social and environmental risks. These include deforestation of the Amazon region, violations of labour rights, and high food prices due to the high demand for soybeans reducing acreage for other crops.

In order to address these problems in the soy sector, producers, traders, processors, financial institutions and civil society organisations have formed the international Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS). The RTRS is developing criteria for responsible soy production and a system for implementing these criteria. The intention is to have the criteria in place by May 2009.

The RTRS has already succeeded in bringing together many of the larger international soy traders and processors. However, to become an inevitable mainstream initiative, involvement of a wider range of stakeholder groups needs to be secured. Amongst others, these include small and medium producers in South America, India and China, as well as the European processing industry.

The purpose of the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative's soy programme is to increase awareness and broaden public support for the RTRS in Europe, South America, India and China. Stakeholders are stimulated to implement the criteria developed by the RTRS.

The Product Board Margarine, Fats and Oils (representing Dutch production and trading companies) and Nevedi (representing the Dutch feed industry) aim at 100% responsible soy imports into the Netherlands within few years. In this way the programme contributes to making global soy production and trade more socio-environmentally responsible.

Leo Den Hartog , Director R&D and Quality Affairs, Nutreco about sustainable sourcing of soy.