RTRS Pre-audit – the Round Table on Responsible Soy

the Round Table on Responsible Soy is a multinational initiative established in 2006 to promote sustainable production, trade, and use of soybeans through global development, implementation, and verification.

Our members include key representatives of the soy value chain and members of civil society all around the globe. According to the round – table philosophy, participants from different areas and interests have equal rights and cooperate with the common purpose, thus ensuring that dialogue and decision-making reach a consensus.

Thanks to this motivation, we have created RTRS standards for the responsible soy production that apply in a global scale to ensure the fairness in terms of society, economic feasibility, and environment for soy production.

RTRS particularly aims to

• Facilitate a global dialogue on soybeans in terms of economic effectiveness, social justice, and the environment.
• Reach a consensus among stakeholders and participants in the soy industry
• Acting as a forum to develop and promote a sustainable standard for soy production, processing, trade, and use
• Hold international conferences on responsible soy production and involve new operators and non-profit organizations

Version 1.0 of the RTRS standard in responsible soy production was a result of a field test phase as well as three rounds of pre-audit on the previous draft on principles, criteria and verification mechanisms. The last version was approved by RTRS.

5 main principles of RTRS

RTRS has 21 criteria, including related index. There are five main principles:

• Comply with the law and conduct best practices in businesses
• Be responsible for working conditions
• Be responsible for community relationship
• Be responsible for the environment
• Good agricultural practice

The content of RTRS standard

RTRS standard – the Round Table on Responsible Soy includes:

• Employees right
• Land ownership
• Respect traditional and small-scale land use
• Biodiversity protection
• Water usage
• Pesticides usage
• Impact on infrastructure

the Round Table on Responsible Soy reflects the expectations of stakeholders and your customers.

Benefits of RTRS for stakeholders

• RTRS certification - the Round Table on Responsible Soy helps to demonstrate stakeholders and your customers that you apply RTRS standard
• Benefits include greater farm management efficiency, land protection, better water management, increased employee motivation and improved relationships with neighbors and the community. Furthermore, RTRS certification improves the quality of domestic management through supervision and the timely comparison
• Encourage decision – making and support the use of information and other monitoring and management tools. Benefits are generated through efficiency in production systems and the utilization of agricultural pesticides.
• Additional benefits include improved conditions when applying for a bank loan, and complying with international standards. These benefits assure existing markets and promote the development of new markets seeking to soy RTRS.