Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)’s certification program for global soy suppliers ADM Responsible Soybean Standard has gained recognition from the European Feed Manufacturers' Federation (FEFAC) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) for meeting the FEFAC’s Soy Sourcing Guidelines.
The FEFAC guideline is a standardized system to deliver responsible soy programs. The company's certification program passed the assessment in September, enabling ADM to become one of the first private standard-owners to be in compliance with the FEFAC guidelines.
Recently, the FEFAC and ITC issued benchmarking results of the eight sustainability standards that passed the assessment.
ADM Sustainability Manager Europe Albrecht Baetge said: "The ADM Responsible Soybean Standard reinforces our commitment to the responsible and sustainable development of agriculture worldwide. We support FEFAC and ITC's efforts to harmonize sustainability standards throughout the industry, and were confident that our certification standard would meet the Soy Sourcing Guidelines."
ADM's Responsible Soybean Standard was initiated in March 2015 to offer European and other region customers protein-meal that is made from sustainably-grown soybeans. The participating growers in the program are audited depending on their compliance with a broad set of parameters that include social, environmental, legal and agronomic benchmarks.
The standards also include on labor practices, use of water and soil, waste management, adherence of land rights, legal compliance, and responsible utilization of fertilizers.
In line with its commitment to sustainable agricultural practices, ADM partnered with ITC to become the latter's signatory of Trade for Sustainable Development Principles (T4SD.). The principles laid down by the ITC, which is an agency of the United Nations and WTO, promote sustainability, transparency and harmonization in supply chains, apart from supporting UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
ADM Oilseeds European Crush and Origination president John Grossmann said: "By providing third-party assessment and verification of soy sustainability standards, and laying out industry-wide principles for sustainable development, FEFAC and the ITC are helping build a more responsible soy value chain.
"We are proud to work with these organisations and offer our European customers a wide portfolio of sustainable soy products certified by ISCC PLUS, the US Soybean Sustainability Assurance Protocol and, especially, the ADM Responsible Soybean Standard."
Recently, the company opened two manufacturing plants in China in order to increase its capacity to meet the growing demand in the country for value added food ingredients and animal nutrition products. ADM opened a production plant in the northeastern part of the Tianjin city which would produce Fibersol soluble dietary fiber. It also opened a feed-premix plant in the eastern city of Nanjing.
