Weekly Roundup: Azelis reinforces Asia Pacific presence, Agribusiness trade modernization initiative advances

13 Dec 2019 --- In business news this week, Azelis expanded its partnership with Roquette to distribute its food ingredients in Indonesia and Vietnam. Meanwhile, founding members of the industry-wide initiative to modernize global trade operations have announced its new project name: Covantis. Verdeca, a joint venture (JV) between Arcadia Biosciences and Bioceres Crop Solutions, has received approval of HB4 drought and herbicide-tolerant soybeans in Paraguay. Also this week, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Secretariat published members’ oil palm concession maps for Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak on its interactive map application GeoRSPO.

In brief: Business
Azelis has expanded its partnership with Roquette. Effective immediately, Azelis now distributes Roquette’s complete food range in Indonesia and its pea ingredients in Vietnam, reinforcing Azelis’ position as a key player in the food and nutrition industry and its commitment to support the markets in Asia Pacific in general. This additional partnership builds upon the standing relationship between Azelis and Roquette that started in January 2019 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Azelis’ market presence, technical expertise and high focus on sustainability and innovation have proven to be a perfect match with Roquette’s vision and now continues to grow across regional borders, the company notes.

The founding members (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, COFCO International, Louis Dreyfus Company and Glencore Agriculture) of the industry-wide initiative to modernize global trade operations have announced a new project name: Covantis. Covantis will also be the name of the digital platform now in development and expected to launch in 2020 subject to regulatory approvals. The Covantis initiative also announced that Stefano Rettore would lead the project as an independent advisor during its development phase – including overseeing the search for a CEO – until governance is in place and a CEO is appointed. The future entity, executive appointments and the platform itself remain subject to regulatory approvals. Rettore has more than two decades of global experience in the agribusiness industry. He served as president of ADM’s origination business and, before that, as the company’s chief risk officer. 

On Human Rights Day (December 10), Firmenich announced it was the first in its industry to sign the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Action Platform for Decent Work in Global Supply Chains. As one of the world’s 36 UN LEAD companies, Firmenich actively advances the UN Ten Principles, starting with respecting and promoting human rights across its operations worldwide, per its Human Rights Policy. With this signature, Firmenich is formalizing its public commitment to Decent Work across its Global Supply Chains, based on its six pillars, cutting across Communication and Transparency to Collaboration and Accountability. It builds on Firmenich’s Human Rights Policy, Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and Social Accountability Standards, to ensure that all its colleagues and partners firmly adhere to its standards worldwide. These standards require full compliance with national laws, the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, as well as the UN’s guiding principles on Business and Human Rights.

Verdeca has completed the regulatory review process and received approval for its HB4 drought and herbicide-tolerant soybeans.Verdeca, a JV between Arcadia Biosciences (RKDA) and Bioceres Crop Solutions (BIOX), has completed the regulatory review process and received approval for its HB4 drought and herbicide-tolerant soybeans from the Paraguayan Minister of Agriculture, through the National Commission for Agricultural and Forestry Biosafety. The HB4 stack is Verdeca’s newest product release from its pipeline of traits developed to benefit soybean producers through quality improvement, stress mitigation and management practices. With this approval, the HB4 trait now has regulatory approval in more than 80 percent of the global soybean market. The HB4 trait has already been approved in the US, Argentina and Brazil, with regulatory submissions currently under consideration by China, among other relevant products and consumption territories. Import approval from China is needed for commercial launch in Argentina and is now expected in late 2020.

In brief: Other highlights
The RSPO Secretariat published members’ oil palm concession maps for Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak on its interactive map application GeoRSPO – a milestone set to deliver greater transparency in the sustainable palm oil sector. Previously, these maps were not published due to ambiguity around the legality of making them publicly available. Still, now all palm oil concession boundaries of RSPO members in Malaysia are publicly accessible and display relevant data including active hotspots, tree cover loss, tree cover gain and more. RSPO CEO, Datuk Darrel Webber, says, “We are pleased to be adding the member maps for Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak, which completes our commitment to our members. It is a great step forward for transparency and accountability and we hope this move will bring greater objectivity to discussions on fires and other topics that have sometimes been attributed to the palm oil sector.”

By Elizabeth Green