Forest 500

ProTerra is a not-for-profit foundation registered in the Netherlands that aims to advance sustainability within agricultural and food systems. The ProTerra Certification Programme is one of the leading certification schemes in the soya sector and as such is a key powerbroker in the context of tropical deforestation related to expansion of soya production. The scheme was the first of its kind to respond to growing demand for better sustainability practices and commodities from non-genetically modified (non-GM) sources. The ProTerra Standard was developed by the global certification body Cert-ID in 2006 as an extension to the Basel Criteria for Responsible Soy Production. The Basel Criteria were developed from a proposal between Swiss retailer Coop and WWF-Switzerland in 2004 to provide a working definition for environmentally, socially and economically responsible soya production. Importantly however, ProTerra has been expanded beyond the original remit of the Basel Criteria and is applicable to all sectors within the food and agricultural systems at all supply chain stages. For example, ProTerra can be applied to the production of all agricultural commodities and their derivatives globally, and at different stages of the value chain, such as to the processing of commodities and manufacturing of finished goods for use as food, animal feed, fibre, fuel and other goods for public consumption. With regards to certification of soya, in contrast to the standard developed by the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS), ProTerra does not certify operations using GM soy and has strict requirement to ensure certified soy is kept segregated from sources of GM soy throughout the supply chain. With regards to land conversion, Version3 of the ProTerra Standard, currently under public consultation, states that for certification, areas of native vegetation and high conservation value, including primary forests, must not have been cleared or converted after 2004.