BackgroundSoy
Growing global demand formeat and dairy products has
contributed to the doubling ofsoybean production in the last
20 years.

Before long, Brazil became the second largest soybeanproducing country in the world—and soybeans became
one of the leading drivers of deforestation.

High-quality soy protein is fed to farmed animals and fish tosupport growth and healthy development. Soybean meal, soyprotein concentrates, and other vegetable proteins and oils,
can replace from one-third to one-half of the fishmeal in feeds
for many farmed fish species, reducing the need for marine
ingredients from capture fisheries.

Soy is primarily used to feed pork, poultry, and dairy cows,
though significant amounts are also used to produce
vegetable oil and biodiesel. Large soybean fields in thetropics, particularly in Latin America, are often planted on
newly deforested land—or they may expand onto former
pastureland, pushing cattle to the forest frontier.

Oil palm
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit ofoil palm trees. Two types of oil can be produced; crude palm
oil comes from squeezing the fleshy fruit, and palm kernel oilthat comes from crushing the kernel, or the stone in the middle
Every year around 480,000 hectares is deforested for soyin major soy-producing tropical countries. Soybeans are aof the fruit. What is left when the kernel has been squeezed ispalm kernel expeller.

highly valuable crop for several reasons. As legumes, they
“fix” nitrogen, reducing the need for nitrogen fertilisers. An

Palm oil has been, and continues to be, a major driver ofexcellent source of protein, soybeans are also richer in oil thandeforestation of some of the world’s most biodiverse forests,

most legumes, making them a good source for vegetable oil

destroying the habitat of already endangered species like theand biofuels.

orangutan, pygmy elephant and Sumatran rhino. This forest
loss coupled with conversion of carbon rich peat soils are

Until a few decades ago, tropical forest soils were notconsidered viable for soybeans. However advances in farming
methods and crop varieties made it possible to grow soybeans
profitably in new environments, including tropical forests.

2 SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025

contributing to climate change. Oil palm products are rarely
used in aquaculture diets. On the animal nutrition side they canbe included in early life diets for piglets and calves among
other applications.

SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025 3

Value chains
Traceability criteria

Purchasing criteria

Sustainability claims

The soy or oil palm ingredient is

1. If the ingredient is from a region withNutreco’s soy and oil palm

traceable back to a country or region

a low risk of deforestation, then noingredients are deforestation-free.

with a low risk of deforestation.

certification scheme is required.

> See Appendix ICLASSA

2. If the ingredient is from a region withThe soy or oil palm ingredient isa high risk of deforestation, it must be

traceable back to a country or region

purchased through a certification schemewith a high risk of deforestation.

which verifies no deforestation has> See Appendix I

occurred before a defined cut-off date(s).
See Appendix II for acceptable schemes.
Soy and oil palm ingredients in Class
A must be in a physically segregated
supply-chain from ingredientsdefined in Class B, C & D.

This is the Nutreco sourcing policy specific for soy and oil palm
ingredients, focused on deforestation and land-use change to ensurecompliance with the Nutreco Sustainability Road Map 2025 on thetopics of Climate & Circularity and Biodiversity & Ecosystems. By theend of 2025, our ambition is to source soy and oil palm ingredientsthat are free from both legal and illegal deforestation, with thepurpose of limiting our impact on biodiversity and climate change.
This is defined as Class A opposite. Class C-D are alternate valuec
chains for soy and oil palm ingredients available to support us
with our ambition. To achieve deforestation-free soy and oil palm
ingredients, all these value chains will be employed throughout theimplementation of this policy.

The soy or oil palm ingredient is

If deforestation, then no certification

Nutreco supports the production of

traceable back to a country or region

If the ingredient is from a region with

deforestation-free feed ingredientswith a high risk of deforestation.

a high risk of deforestation, it mustfrom soy and oil palm.

> See Appendix I

be purchased through a certification
scheme with a defined cut-off date,using either a mass-balance orCLASS

B

credit system.
> See Appendix III for acceptable schemes

Soy and oil palm ingredientsin Class B do not need to besegregated from ingredientsdefined in Class C & D.

The soy or oil palm ingredient isIf the ingredient is from a region with

The soy ingredient meets the FEFAC

traceable back to a country or region

a high risk of deforestation, it mustsoy sourcing guidelines, e.g. no illegal

with a high risk of deforestation.

be purchased through a certification

deforestation has occurred> See Appendix I

scheme that verifies no illegal
deforestation has occurred.

CLASSCIn this defined Class, there are no> See Appendix IV for acceptable schemes

acceptable schemes for oil palm

Soy and oil palm ingredients incan be made.

ingredients, therefore no claims

Class C must be in a physicallysegregated supply-chain from
ingredients defined in Class D.

CLASS

DThe soy or oil palm ingredient is traceable

If the ingredient is from a region withThe soy and/or oil palm ingredient(s)back to a country or region with a higha high risk of deforestation, it can be

can be traced back to theirrisk of deforestation or untraceable.

purchased without any certification.

country-of-cultivation.

> See Appendix I

If different batches/regions of soy or oil palm are mixed, then the lowest class applies.
(A) – (D) describe all sourcing routes currently available. These are shown in order of preference.

Preferable source <4 SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025

> Less preferable source

SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025 5

Milestones

Decision Tree

This decision tree applies for all soy and oil palm ingredients,including conventional and organic and where the soy or oilpalm ingredient is part of a blend/mix.

Is the ingredient traceable
NOback to the country-of-

DO NOT PURCHASE!

cultivation?

YES

2021

2023

2025

Can the ingredient be

Is the ingredient traceable

sourced under a fully physicalback to a country-ofcultivation with a low risk

NOof deforestation?
By the end of 2021, Skretting

By the end of 2023, Skretting

By the end of 2025 Nutreco (andis sourcing soy and oil palm

is sourcing soy and oil palm

thereby its divisions Skretting andingredients from Low risk

ingredients from Low risk regions

Trouw Nutrition) is only sourcing

regions or High risk regions withor from High risk regions, undersoy and oil palm ingredients fromcertification verifying

certification schemes that do

Low risk regions or from High risk

no illegal deforestation has

not allow either legal or illegal

regions that are free from legal

deforestation using at leastand illegal deforestation, in fully

occurred (Class C asa minimum).

a mass balance or credit system(Class B as a minimum).

segregated certification
scheme documenting noIngredient isYESClass A

deforestation – legal or illegal?

> See Appendix I

purchased as> See Appendix IINOYES

Can the ingredient be sourced

segregated physical supply-chains
under third party certification

Is the ingredient in aschemes (Class A only).

physically segregated
supply-chain?

under a certification schemeNO

documenting no deforestation– legal or illegal, through use

Ingredient isYES

purchased asClass Bof mass-balance or credits?
> See Appendix III

Additional milestones in specificareas may be set that allow us toachieve the objective earlier thanthe 2025 deadline; for example
per specific soy or oil palm
ingredient or for a certain animal/
fish species or for a certain region.

NOCan the ingredient besourced under a fully physicalYES

segregated certification
schemes documenting noillegal deforestation?

Ingredient isYES

purchased as

Class C> See Appendix IV

For sourcing of all ingredients, our Nutreco Code of Conductfor Business Partners applies. For agricultural ingredients, anResponsible production of soy and oil palm is about more thanadditional supplement also applies and for soy and oil palm,deforestation and land-use change. We believe all agricultural

this Policy adds a further layer of responsibility

products should be produced in a responsible manner.

to our sourcing.

6 SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025

NO

Ingredient is

Ingredient ispurchased aspurchased as Class D

Class A> See Appendix VSOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025 7

Regions at high risk of deforestation

Acceptable certification schemes

Appendix II Class A*

Appendix III Class B

Soy

Oil palm

Soy

Oil palm

Belgian Feed Association (BFA)

RSPO (IP / segregated)

ISCC Plus (mass-balance)

RSPO (book &claim / mass-balance)

Certified Responsible Soya (CRS)
Donau Soja
Europe Soya
ISCC Plus (segregated)

RTRS (mass-balance)
RTRS (credits*)

ProTerra (segregated)*Credits: 1 tonne of soy, for example Roundtable on

RTRS (segregated)

When buying credits, we buy the amount of credits equal to

Sustainable Farming Assurance(SFA) – Non conversion

Appendix I

ProTerra (mass-balance)

Responsible Soy (RTRS) - certified soy, is equivalent to 1 credit.
the amount of soy product purchased. So 100 tonnes of soyprotein concentrate (or any other soy product) equals 100credits. Soy is processed into different products that all add up

Cerrado Conservation Mecha-to one soy unit. By purchasing credits equal to the amount ofOil palm Regions at a high risk level of deforestation

nism Payment for Environmental

products purchased, we take responsibility for our part of theAngola

BrazilServices (not yet available)

soy value chain.

Argentina

Cameroon*Class A: The report by Profundo Research Institute (June-2019),

BelizeColombia

titled Setting the bar for deforestation-free soy in Europe

Benin

Côte D’ivoire

Bolivia

Ghana

Bosnia & Herzegovina

GuatemalaBrazilGuineaSoy

Oil palm

Burkina Faso

Honduras

ADM Responsible Soy Standard

No certification schemes

BurundiIndonesia

Cambodia

Liberia

Cameroon

Malaysia

Ethiopia

MexicoGabon

Nigeria

Kyrgyzstan

Papua New Guinea

LaoPeru

Liberia

Philippines

CSQA (Italian certification company)

MalawiThailand

FEMAS

Mali

Venezuela

Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) program

Moldova

An oil palm producing country not in the list above isfor Sustainable Agriculture

considered to have a low risk of oil palm driven deforestation –Sustainable Feed Standard (SFS)

Soy Regions at a high risk level of deforestation

Myanmar
Nepal
Paraguay

for more background and the methodology used to make thislist, see Appendix VII.

was used to define Class A.

Appendix IV Class C

Agricultura Certificada de Aapresid;
Certified Sustainable Agriculture (ASC)Amaggi Responsible Standard
Bunge Pro S
Cargill Triple S
Coamo Responsible Soy

Sustainable Farming Assurance (SFA)
US Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (US SSAP)

RwandaSri Lanka

All standards listed in Class A-C comply with the FEFAC soy sourcing guidelines.

Tanzania

Appendix V Class DTogo
UruguayZambia
A soy producing country not in the list above is considered
to have a low risk of soy driven deforestation – for morebackground and the methodology used to make this list,
see Appendix VII.
8 SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025

• The soy or oil palm ingredient is traceable back to a country(organic, social issues, responsible agricultural practises withor region with a high risk of deforestation, without certification

regard to soil erosion, use of pesticides). Although potentiallyor not traceable at all.

valuable, this policy is focused on deforestation and land

• The soy or oil palm ingredient is offered under a scheme notmentioned in this Policy. Soy and oil palm products can beused change only
• For a soy or oil palm ingredient offered under a scheme

offered under a multitude of certification schemes. Many ofnot mentioned in this Policy, please check with the Skrettingthese schemes deal with issues other than deforestation

Sustainability Manager, before any commitments are made.
SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025 9

Definition – Deforestation

Methodology

Appendix VI

Appendix VII

Deforestation: Loss of natural forest as a result ofA mapping of deforestation in different countries andconversion to agriculture or other non-forest land use:regions will be a tool to:• Conversion to a tree plantation• Give information about where the likelihood of illegal• Severe and sustained degradation

deforestation is high• Give information about where we need additional

This is the ‘official’ definition from the Accountability
Framework Initiative.
With regard to other non-forest land the ProTerra andRoundtable for Responsible Soy certification highlights;
Primary Forests (for instance, rainforests): Riparian
Vegetation, Wetlands, Swamps, Floodplains, Steepslopes, High above-ground carbon stocks, and otheras defined by the High Conservation Values Resource
Network (HCV 1 to 6);• HCV 1 Species diversity

assurance through certification schemes orsupplier information that soy does not comefrom recently deforested land

In order to establish a risk map
we have used data on carbon
emissions resulting from the direct
land use change by soy and oilpalm cultivation.

3. We defined a cutoff point between high risk and low risk

The source of data is a complete dataset Direct Land Usechange and data related to oil palm, doubts were raised over

Change Assessment Tool issued by Blonk consultants (version

the accuracy of the dataset. So here we decided to focus on2018) wfrom which we have extracted data for soy and oil

looking at the countries cultivating oil palm and the tree coverpalm cultivation. The results are based on the average FAO

loss in these countries (Global Forest Watch. “Tree cover loss

statistics (harvested area) of 2014-2016 and 1994-1996. It should

in compared to other areas”. Accessed on 22/09/2020 frombe noted that the calculation does not take (organic) peat soils

www.globalforestwatch.org). We then also consulted theinto account.

Global Forest Watch global map regarding commodity-driven

at a LUC value of 1 [ton CO2-eq./tonne crop*yr]. This value
was chosen when looking at other agricultural crops wepurchase like wheat and rapeseed. In regions we sourcefrom – and do not demand any certification – we foundvalues around 1 tonne CO2-eq./ton crop*yr . For these crops
as of today we do not demand any certification.

When having a closer look at the Blonk database for land use
Land conversion is the conversion of non-forested natural
ecosystems to agriculture, tree plantations, intensive livestock
production, or other land uses, as well as the severe orsustained degradation of such ecosystems (For example,drainage of peatlands or major alteration of grasslands due
to livestock production).

deforestation: Large-scale deforestation linked primarily• HCV 2 Landscape-level ecosystems and mosaics
The Blonk tool that is used as a proxy, is a recognised and a• HCV 3 Ecosystems and habitats

comprehensive tool to assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions• HCV 4 Ecosystem services

from direct Land Use Change (LUC), based on the PAS2050• HCV 5 Community needs

to commercial agricultural expansion. This was partly asubjective evaluation as we were not able to extract
subjective information.

Carbon Footprint standard and referenced for example by the• HCV 6 Cultural values

European PEF method. The Blonk tool addresses GHG emissions
caused by land transformation from forest, grassland andother types of cropland considering a 20 year time frame.

Illegal deforestation: refers to violation of governmental

StatusAlthough the data used and evaluation done is solid, in timethe data and the methodology can no doubt be improved.
Other sources of information could also be taken into

regulations and international conventions that pose
limits on conversion of native vegetation to agricultural

The values are country and crop-specific and based on theaccount. For now this evaluation is seen as good enoughlandDeforestation rates and risk.

In all countries – also those with a high deforestation rate

latest FAO data: For example the higher the forest contraction

to move forward to implement the policy, but a committee– there will be agricultural land cleared many years ago.

and the higher the expansion of land for the specific crop

will be formed (potentially with external members) toWe can source soy and oil palm products from these areas.

of interest in a country over the past 20 years, the higher thereview the document. It will be important looking for more

However, when we purchase from a geography with highdirect LUC emissions attributed to that crop and country.

detailed data that e.g. considers the main causes/drivers

deforestation, we need additional assurance that the products

The following steps were taken:

Deforestation rates and risk
It is important for Nutreco to map the geographical regionswith the highest deforestation rates. We can assume that inareas with a high rate of deforestation, also the likelihood ofillegal deforestation will be high.

we buy do not come from recently deforested land or fromany land cleared after a cut of date that has been definedby Nutreco.

1. Filter the tool by crop of interest (For example soybeansor palm oil)
2. Sort countries by crop-specific LUC values from high to low

of deforestation in the countries where deforestation isrelevant. In addition this type of risk assessment should be
regularly updated. In due time this document will haveto put in the context of the upcoming new Aquaculture
Stewardship Council (ASC) feed standard certification and theupcoming GlobalGAP compound feed standard certification.

10 SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025

SOY AND OIL PALM INGREDIENTS SOURCING POLICY - ROADMAP 2025 11

Sustainability.
It’s not just what we aspire to do, it’s what we do.

Nutreco N.V.
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T +31 (0)88 053 2405

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