Spain receives its first cargo of certified deforestation-free argentine soy
Pilot shipments comply with the ViSeC platform's sustainability protocol to monitor and track grain from field to port.
Photos from CIARA/CEC
By March 2024, the first ships carrying Argentine soy meal with deforestation-free certificates will arrive in Spain. Starting this December, pilot shipments are already a milestone in negotiations by the Argentine Edible Oil Association (CIARA), the Grain Exporters Center (CEC), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) and the Peterson Control Union to bring the country's agricultural production into compliance with requirements established by the European Union's new environmental legislation, and to anticipate the launch of the ViSeC platform that will monitor and verify all soy products sold in the country. By consolidating sustainability parameters and requirements this tool, as one of four projects supported by the Land Innovation Fund for the Gran Chaco biome, reaffirms the institution's commitment to innovative solutions for major challenges on today's environmental and agricultural agendas.
The pilot shipments have begun with the manual issuance of sustainability certificates for each soy shipment to Spain. The goal is for each player in the agricultural sector to be able to self-register on the platform, confirming their compliance with criteria set out in the new EU regulations. The testing phase will also help farmers by allowing them to use an offline version of the platform to adapt to the new environmental requirements before the EU's legislation comes into force in 2025.
Born out of joint efforts by farmers, their agricultural associations, processors, exporters, civil society organizations, input and service providers, government and private sector entities, academic bodies and research institutions, ViSeC is a multi-sector initiative seeking integrated solutions to reduce, monitor and eliminate negative environmental and social impacts throughout the soy supply chain, above all to achieve zero deforestation and change other forms of land use in priority environmental conservation areas like the Gran Chaco, and throughout the country.
With this platform, the sources of all of Argentina’s soy production can be monitored and georeferenced, from the field to the port of export. "The system will allow exporters to identify the deforestation-free origin of their products at all stages of the supply chain, and international operators – starting with the Spaniards – will be able to trace these products all the way to the end consumer," explains Gustavo Idigoras, president of CIARA-CEC.
The ViSeC platform will join several links along the soy supply chain into a single platform with a common objective: environmentally responsible and economically viable agricultural production. "CIARA-CEC's groundbreaking initiative, in partnership with Peterson Control Union and the Rosario Board of Trade, and with the support of many key institutions in Argentina's agricultural supply chain, is an essential step towards aligning grain production parameters with global environmental and climate agendas," says Ashley Valle, director of the Land Innovation Fund.