WWF Germany Backs Proterra Along With RTRS Scheme

The study, which was carried out by WWF Germany, combined desk research, interviews with representatives from each certification standard and workshops between standards organisations and WWF Germany to discuss and assess data gathered as well as topics of interest in more depth.

28 Sep 2012 --- Following an in-depth comparison study on the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) and ProTerra Certification schemes, the WWF Germany has claimed that it has no preference of one standard against the other.

The study, which was carried out by WWF Germany, combined desk research, interviews with representatives from each certification standard and workshops between standards organisations and WWF Germany to discuss and assess data gathered as well as topics of interest in more depth.

Conclusions of the WWF Germany Report regarding the two standards were that while there are differences between the RTRS non-GM and ProTerra, when recommending a scheme for the feed supply chain, there was no reason to prefer one standard against another.

The report concluded that both certification schemes cover minimum requirements concerning social standards, land conversation standards, applications of chemical and soil quality and that this is an important first step to becoming more sustainable.

The report also concluded that there still areas for improvement with both schemes e.g. in the use of hazardous chemicals, building up soil fertility and in the definition of HCV areas.

Dr John Fagan from The ProTerra Foundation, which manages the ProTerra scheme said: “We welcome the thorough approach that WWF Germany has taken in assessing both the ProTerra and RTRS schemes and acknowledging the power that certification can have in driving forward sustainability in the global food supply chain. ProTerra has been delivering large volumes of fully traceable non-GMO soy produced with improved sustainability to the European market since 2006 (4.2 million metric tons in 2011) and welcomes other schemes such as RTRS, which offered book and trade certificates of around 400,000 metric tons in 2011.”

The ProTerra Standard was initially developed on the basis of the Basel Criteria by Cert ID in 2004, with the first load of certified soy entering to Europe from Brazil in 2006. Ownership of the standard was transferred to the multi-stakeholder non-profit, The ProTerra Foundation, in 2012.

In 2006, WWF initiated the Round Table for Sustainable Soy (RTRS) which developed standards for ‘responsible soy’ certification. In the first version, the RTRS had no options for non-GM soy certification but since 2011 there is a separate supply chain option for non GM RTRS certification based on the 1.0 criterion.