BEIJING, CHINA — COFCO International said it has passed an independent benchmarking process and will be able to offer deforestation and conversion-free soy in accordance with the European feed industry’s requirements, as outlined in the 2023 FEFAC Soy Sourcing Guidelines.

The process was enabled by the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC), the creator of the benchmarking program, and run by the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations’ and World Trade Organization’s joint agency.

The COFCO International Responsible Agriculture Standard is a voluntary certification program for agricultural producers and other chain of custody suppliers that promotes conservation and the mainstreaming of sustainable agriculture in its supply chains.

The standard incorporates COFCO International policies, including its Supplier Code of Conduct and Sustainable Soy Sourcing Policy; responsible industry standards, mainly FEFAC Soy Sourcing Guidelines; and international principles such as International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Conventions and Recommendations, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the International Bill of Human Rights.

COFCO has made improving its sustainability efforts a top priority. In July, the company was rewarded for its efforts with recognition as a Morningstar Sustainalytics 2023 Top-Rated ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Company and ranked second out of more than 100 companies in the Sustainalytics agriculture sub-industry group.

Improvements mainly were driven by advancements in the company’s emissions reporting, climate risk management, deforestation policy, biodiversity programs and efforts to improve the carbon and water intensity of its operations.