Sustainable Soy Sourcing for EU Feed Made Easier
EU - New guidelines have been released by the European Feed Manufacturers' Federation (FEFAC) to make it easier for feed industry operators to source responsible soy.
14 August 2015
3 minute read
By: The responsible soy products come from farmers who have respected several environmental, social and economic elements in line with certain baseline criteria from FEFAC.
These criteria were set by feed industry experts with the help of key supply chain partners and other stakeholders.
The Guidelines can be used by FEFAC members and other supply chain partners as a reference and benchmark for respective national or company programmes. FEFAC aims to facilitate the mainstream market supply of responsible produced soy to Europe with the new tool.
FEFAC President Ruud Tijssens stated: “These Guidelines are the long-awaited game changer to lift responsible soy out of the current niche market in Europe and foster the implementation of existing as well as the development of new legislation in exporting countries."
The Guidelines passed through a period of public consultation after an initial draft was published in March 2015. The following organisations provided FEFAC with written and oral comments on the draft version of the Guidelines: AAPRESID, ABIOVE, Alliance de Terra, APROSOJA, Both Ends, COOP, Danish Agriculture & Food Council, FARN, FEDIOL, IUCN, MIGROS, OSAS, Retailers’ Soy Group, RTRS, SOLIDARIDAD, USSEC, WWF.
FEFAC has also published all stakeholder feedback and comments it received on its website, including FEFAC’s individual responses to the comments made. FEFAC President Ruud Tijssens thanked “all supply chain stakeholders for their valuable expertise and contribution to improve the quality and practicality of the guidelines.”
He said he looked forward “to continue the journey towards mainstream market supply of responsible soy to EU markets by cooperating with all partners willing to assist the feed industry with the implementation and continuous improvement of the present guidelines.”
FEFAC is currently developing a customised independent benchmarking tool with the help of the International Trade Center (ITC). As from September 2015, all interested partners will be able to use this online tool to verify whether their respective standard or programme covers the feed industry’s minimum requirements as outlined in the Soy Sourcing Guidelines.
