July 2, 2018

ISCC evaluated as best standard regarding important ecological and social sustainability criteria

With the Amsterdam Declaration in 2015, the German government together with other European countries declared their willingness to support the private sector’s goal to eliminate deforestation from agricultural supply chains by 2020. Usually companies use certification schemes to ensure deforestation-free sourcing and in general the compliance with social or ecological requirements.

The globally recognised Thünen Institute of International Forestry and Forest Economics published a study on soy certification schemes, that validate deforestation-free sourcing and the compliance with social and ecological requirements. The analysis of soy certification schemes has shown that the requirements among the schemes differ considerably.

The evaluation of standards related to the conservation of natural ecosystems, good agricultural practice, social criteria, auditing and traceability systems, identified ISCC PLUS and ISCC EU as the schemes with the highest overall scores. The in-depth study evaluated 15 out of 17 certification schemes, which are recognised by the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC) for responsible soy sourcing.

Click here to find the entire study in German and a short summary in English