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Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS)

RTRS

Founded in 2006 in Zürich, Switzerland, the Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS) is a global multi-stakeholder non-profit organization promoting the growth of production, trade, and use of responsible soy through cooperation with those in, and related to, the soy value chain, from production to consumption, in an open multi-stakeholder dialogue including producers, suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, financial institutions, civil society organizations and other relevant actors.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Cyrus Engerer (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and APPLiA (Home Appliance Europe) and Carbon Gap ASBL

6 Sept 2023 · Green Claims Directive

Response to Environmental claims based on environmental footprint methods

17 Jul 2023

The Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the European Commissions proposal for a Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive). As a multi-stakeholder organisation with the mission to promote the growth of production, trade and use of responsible soy, RTRS welcomes any efforts towards the establishment of rules for clear, relevant and substantiated claims. Regarding the proposal at stake, RTRS is happy to highlight a series of key points that would benefit from additional clarity and awareness. We are glad to observe that the proposed Green Claims Directive adopts a broad but rigorous approach in terms of methodologies that companies can rely on when substantiating their environmental claims. This inclusivity is crucial in ensuring that methods for substantiating green claims do not single out individual sustainability issues at the expense of others but can effectively address a diverse range of important matters around the world. An inclusive approach allows substantiating methods to consider other legitimate strategies for enhancing environmental and sustainability performance, and to incorporate the varying operational contexts across countries and regions, sectors, commodities and products. Additionally, an inclusive approach will foster innovation and advancements in substantiation methods. We encourage EU institutions to adopt a global perspective on "widely recognised scientific evidence" to avoid a narrow focus on a limited subset of substantiation methods. Building partnerships with regions outside the EU widens the research base and provides broader perspectives that take into account context-specific characteristics. In order to avoid excluding third countries from the EU market, it is crucial that the EU relies on a wide variety of well-researched methodologies and approaches. Any well-researched methodology developed by well-recognised scientific institutions, will add value and credibility to the shared vision towards a more sustainable future. Committed to the importance of credible evidence and data, the policy approach should also acknowledge that qualitative information is a valuable complementary tool for assessing environmental impacts. RTRS shares the European Commission's perspective on the potential negative impact of an unregulated surge in environmental labels, which could erode consumers' confidence in companies making environmental claims. RTRS places equal emphasis on both rigorous substantiation and on a genuinely inclusive multistakeholder and holistic approach, which feed into each other in the development of processes and tools that do not look at sustainability issues in isolation. In order to make sure this happens it is crucial to establish clearer criteria for recognising environmental labels and certification schemes. RTRS firmly believes that certain factors, including whether a scheme is a multistakeholder, non-profit organisation, deploying a strong assurance system, recognised by reputable standard quality organisations like ISEAL, should be given due consideration when defining these criteria. Willing to make the necessary steps to align with the Green Claims Directive, RTRS intends to continue to develop in its role supporting the soy and corn value chains and the many people that make these commodities their livelihood. As such, it is fully available to share its practices, knowledge, and perspective with EU institutions throughout the legislative debate. We are ready to continue play a front-line role in establishing a level playing field, fostering our goal of becoming a holistic, comprehensive and complementary tool to the ambitions of the EU sustainability agenda.
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Meeting with Diana Montero Melis (Cabinet of Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen) and Stichting Fair Trade Advocacy Office and

17 Sept 2021 · the forthcoming proposal on deforestation-free regulation

Meeting with Eglantine Cujo (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius) and European Round Table for Industry and

21 May 2021 · The value of certification in due diligence systems

Meeting with Anthony Agotha (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and Stichting Fair Trade Advocacy Office and

21 May 2021 · The value of certification in due diligence systems’