News Deforestation-free soy
Call on NGOs for pure soy to reach a small part of the market
Which came first: FrieslandCampina's collaboration with Agrifirm for deforestation-free soy or the action of a number of NGOs and the public media against deforestation-free soy, that is debatable. More interesting question is: does the current certification system for soy help?
To do this, it must first be clear who the largest buyers of soy are and what requirements they set for the product. According to the NGOs (Greenpeace, Milieudefensie, Aidenvironment and WWF), the Netherlands is the fourth largest importer of soy in the world. According to them, about 4,3 million tons of soy arrives at the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam every year. About 40% of this comes from Brazil. About a million tons are shipped to other European countries. Of the soy that remains in the Netherlands, 1,7 million tons is used in animal feed.
Precise product flows are difficult to trace, but according to research by Chain Reaction Research, with which Aidenvironment also collaborates, the matter is probably a bit more nuanced, as shown in the image below.
Major importer China does not participate in the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS). Protesting the uncertified imports in Beijing is probably not an option (but would be more appropriate). That's why it's happening in Europe. However, the feed manufacturers united in the Nevedi are wondering whether the NGOs are in danger of shooting themselves in the foot with the current action† There is a chance that the fight for 100% pure soy will lead to the blowing up of the RTRS. "If this thin lifeline (the RTRS) breaks, fifteen years of fighting against deforestation and for sustainable soy will have been for nothing," says Nevedi director Henk Flipsen.
By far the most soy to China
Brazilian exporters do not necessarily have to sell to Europe if it is made too difficult for them. China and other Asian countries are eager to buy and in the vast majority of cases do not ask difficult questions (although a few Chinese and Indian companies are also certified). The Brazilian government does not make it difficult for soy producers and also for deforestation. In recent years, deforestation has even accelerated due to the high demand in Asia. Europe seems to have little influence on this and NGOs do not get a foothold in Brazil either.
The RTRS is a fairly small player in the soy market, with customers mainly in the EU and Canada. In 2020, the organization certified 4,4 million tons of soy (barely 5% of total Brazilian production). It is a modest contribution to the fight against deforestation. But not all soy came from Brazil. Shipments are also made from Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
Improve system, don't blow up
Thanks to a modest additional cost, the soy can be certified as deforestation-free. Many parties recognize that the guarantees are not completely watertight. There are Brazilian producers who flout rules, but they have to be thrown out of the system on the spot. Inflating the system yourself, given the current circumstances, is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, says one person involved.
Meanwhile, the NGOs in the Netherlands are having a very different discussion. Here, the globally modest stream of not quite 100% pure soy is being attacked hard. But with what feasible goal, or against whom, parties in the raw materials trade and also dairy are wondering.
Soy increasingly also for meat substitutes
Most of the imported (and certified) soy is used for human use (cosmetic products, edible oil and increasingly also for meat substitutes), the residual flows go to animal feed. A large part of the import also goes directly to Germany, among others.
The one-two punch of FrieslandCampina and Agrifirm has meanwhile also caused quite a stir in both the Nevedi and within the dairy organization NZO. The last word has certainly not yet been said about this matter within these clubs, the participating parties assure. FrieslandCampina and Agrifirm want to start a pilot plan for really pure soy next year, but many of their Dutch consultation partners interpret this mainly as a flight forward without a clear plan, afraid if they are apparently afraid of public criticism.
Klaas van der Horst
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