RTRS sustainable soy corridor is already a reality in MATOPI

This month, one of the terminals at Porto do Itaqui, in Maranhão, obtained Chain of Custody certification to meet the demand for RTRS (International Responsible Soy Association) certified soy. The Port of Itaqui connects the Brazilian grain market to the main international markets, being considered the third largest in soybean exports.  

For the president of Porto do Itaqui, Ted Lago, integrating the RTRS Chain of Custody through the certification of the terminal that serves Cargill is a way of encouraging the truly sustainable supply of food across the planet. “In this way, we are contributing to strengthening and expanding the volume of certified soy production in our area of ​​influence, ensuring food security for the world that needs this sustainable production”, he states. 

More than 95% of the entire volume originated in MATOPI (Maranhão, Tocantins and Piauí) by Cargill - one of the companies responsible for accelerating this process - is exported through the Port of Itaqui, that is, more than 900 thousand tons of soybeans . A part of this volume originated by Cargill in this region was already supplied by RTRS certified producers and represented between 8% and 12% of the total volume exported (75 thousand to 110 thousand tons). Now, with RTRS Chain of Custody certification for 47 locations - four processing units in Barreiras (BA), Rio Verde (GO), Três Lagoas (MS) and Uberlândia (MG); a transshipment unit in Caipoânia (GO); three port terminals in Miritituba (PA), Santarém (PA) and Itaqui (MA); In addition to 39 warehouses in the states of Bahia, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Rondônia and Tocantins, Cargill is impacting an important flow of soybean exports through the north of the country, which is prepared to meet demands for RTRS certified soy via mass balance.

“Cargill aims to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. At the same time as we monitor the increase in demand for certified soy via mass balance by customers in Europe, we encourage increasingly sustainable production in our supply chain in Brazil”, says the Sustainability Manager for Cargill's agricultural business in America do Sul, Renata Nogueira. According to her, Cargill's initiative is part of the company's efforts to seek a deforestation-free supply chain, with a high standard of transparency, that benefits communities and makes rural producers prosper. The Company has completed mapping of collection point locations for 100% of its soybean farm suppliers in Brazil and estimates that 95,68% of its soybeans originating in Brazil are grown on land free from deforestation and conversion (using the Forest Code 2008 as a reference point). “The RTRS certification of our plants and warehouses in the region, together with the terminal in Porto do Itaqui, will allow a significant part of the sustainable soy produced in Brazil to be transported to the market”, he reinforces. 

In Partnership with

RTRS External Consultant in Brazil, Cid Sanches highlights that “the partnership between RTRS, Porto do Itaqui and Cargill is old. Now, the desire is for all soy that passes through the port to be certified is becoming a reality. The MATOPI region currently has a large RTRS certified production, but the rest of the chain, which are warehouses, crushing, transshipment and ports, needed to be certified. Today we can announce that an important step has been taken and that companies can buy physical certified soy and receive it at the Port of Itaqui”.

In 2019, the MATOPI area was responsible for more than 270 thousand hectares and more than 1 million tons of RTRS certified soy. There are a total of 36 RTRS certified producers with more than 184 thousand hectares of native land conserved in the region. For 2020, similar numbers are expected.

According to Gisela Introvini, Superintendent of the Northern Export Corridor Research Support Foundation – FAPCEN and member of the RTRS executive board, the certification of soybeans at the Port of Itaqui further crowns the objective of promoting the sustainable development of the export corridor north. 

“FAPCEN began with the research of cultivars adapted to adverse climate and soil conditions, together with Embrapa Soja and currently, through RTRS, it has been implementing the sustainability of production and export of soy produced in these regions and generating greater value for the territory . We break old paradigms by overcoming each challenge posed to food production in this Brazilian cerrado”, says Gisela.

RTRS Executive Director, Marcelo Visconti, highlights the collaborative nature of this global multisectoral platform. “We have a space that motivates and enables the decisions of actors in the soy value chain, from production to consumption, with the aim of making supply chains sustainable, and everything occurs collaboratively to reach agreements between all notable participants” , he states. 

“In this case, on the one hand, there was a strong initial vision from MATOPI's RTRS producers regarding the challenges and opportunities that RTRS certification would bring in the future. Furthermore, the public-private collaboration between Itaqui and Cargill is proof of the synergy between the parties and the decision to do much more in the region”, adds Visconti.

Value added by RTRS

Certified soy, in accordance with the RTRS Responsible Soy Production Standard, is guaranteed to not only meet the highest environmental criteria (including third-party verified zero deforestation and conversion assurance), but also a broad set of social and labor requirements . 

With Chain of Custody certification, the RTRS soy sustainability seal moves and adds value throughout the supply chain. RTRS Chain of Custody certification consists of a series of requirements for the various traceability systems that an organization must comply with to have control over inventories of soy certified under the RTRS Responsible Production Standard, zero deforestation and zero conversion. It is applicable throughout the entire supply chain and is mandatory for those organizations that want to receive, process and sell RTRS soy or soy products.

Furthermore, Chain of Custody certification is part of the RTRS Standard for Responsible Soy Production, establishing a series of requirements and ensuring that producers comply with the requirements that enable them to sell their certified soy through physical flow.

For more information about RTRS visit: https://responsiblesoy.org/

Therefore, for RTRS certified producers, the RTRS Chain of Custody certification of Porto do Itaqui values ​​and gives visibility to RTRS certified production and the region. Once you enter Porto, agreements and access to the world of certified production become easier.