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The stability of land use, along with documented oil they are buying is sustainably produced. It’s a
use of cover crops, no-till farming, grass water- small segment, but it’s a growing one.”
ways and buffer strips to reduce water usage, The demand elsewhere around the globe is
prevent soil erosion and lower energy consump- already mature, according to U.S. Soybean
tion, allowed USSEC to launch the U.S. Soy Export Council data. Back in 2014 the U.S.
Sustainability Assurance Protocol in 2013. exported 6,845 tons of soybeans that were

“We started hearing a lot of talk about people verified under SSAP. Five years later, SSAP was
around the world becoming very concerned used to prove the sustainability of 21.3 million
about the sustainability of the soy they were tons of exported soybeans – about 36% of all
using, particularly out of Europe,” Sutter said. the international shipments in the 2019-20 mar-
“We put together a group of stakeholders – peo- keting year.
ple who bought soy in Europe and Asia as well “The demand for verified sustainable U.S. soy
as NGOs and we created the Soy Sustainability exports has continued to grow since the SSAP’s
Assurance Protocol, or SSAP for short.” development,” says Abby Rinne, USSEC’s sus-
The goal, Sutter said, was to offer evidence to tainability director. “It’s clear that sustainability
buyers in some of the most environmentally is top of mind for our buyers.”
conscientious countries in the world that U.S. But if America’s soybean farmers want to con-
soy will allow them to make sustainability claims tinue to use the SSAP to sell to Europe’s largest
on the products they produce with the imported feed makers, USSEC is likely going to have to
oilseed products. revamp it.

One of the toughest hurdles was Europe’s FEFAC’s Döring tells Agri-Pulse that the
FEFAC, which incorporates 24 separate associa- organization is planning to strengthen its list
tions in 23 EU countries as well as Switzerland, of sustainability requirements and that means
Turkey, Serbia, Russia and Norway. the SSAP will have to again undergo a second

After hiring an independent contractor to com- review by the International Trade Council, an
pare the U.S. program to all of the sustainability offshoot of the World Trade Organization in
demands of the European feed manufacturers, Geneva.
FEFAC accepted the certification as a method “We are currently upgrading the program,”
of verifying sustainability, Sutter said. Even the Döring said. “We expect our board to adopt a
Tokyo Olympics Commission examined the revised list of criteria of our soy sourcing guide-
SSAP and announced its support of the program lines. The revised set of guidelines will cover a
to certify sustainably produced soy oil and tofu. new set of criteria, including no conversion, no
“I do know that American soybeans are highly deforestation, which are very important for the
valued in the European feed industry,” said European market. Then we will invite SSAP and
Roger Gilbert, publisher of the International other programs to do a second round of bench-
Milling and Grain Directory. He said the marking sometime beginning next year. It’s part
European feed federation’s approval of the of a continuous improvement program.”
U.S. soy protocol puts American producers in a FEFAC is expected to make that announcement
“good position.” soon.

There is even a rising clamor for sustainably pro- The FEFAC decision to upgrade is not a result
duced soy in China, said Sutter. “There’s growing of the EU’s proposed Green Deal overhaul of
interest among consumers to know that the soy agricultural production methods, says Döring. In

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