The U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP), which verifies and documents sustainable soy production, has earned Silver Level Equivalence when benchmarked with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform)’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) 3.0. The third-party endorsement means that SSAP compliant soy can be recognized at FSA silver level and count towards FSA users’ other sustainable sourcing targets.
Commenting on the achievement, Abby Rinne, sustainability director at the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) said, “The biodiversity, conservation practices, health and welfare, and continuous improvements that U.S. soy farmers demonstrate every season are the foundations of the SSAP and what has helped U.S. soy achieve verification. Food companies are looking for more ways to demonstrate the sustainability of their supply chains and U.S. Soy is committed to help them meet their customer and consumer expectations.”
Joe Iveson, the FSA Manager at SAI Platform, added, “The benchmark of SSAP against the FSA recognizes the excellent sustainability efforts that the program is making with regards to U.S. Soy. The benchmark also offers the opportunity for U.S.-based farmers to better reach international markets as the FSA is a globally accepted definition and framework of what on-farm sustainability looks like.”
Image Credit: The United Soybean Board