Soy Certification and Evidence Guide
A Guide to Soy Certification and Evidence
Please watch this video for a guide to the soy certification standards and evidence requested for this years reporting. Included in the video are examples of evidence claims and common issues seen with evidence claims. The video is from 2024 but is still relevant to this year's reporting.
Background
- Production of soy has long been associated with major environmental and social issues particularly in South America. For many companies, ensuring their products are certified is seen as a step to illustrate their production has not exacerbated these issues.
- Many retailers have specific policies requiring levels of certification or external commitments to DCF soy.
- As part of the collective commodity reporting process, we require suppliers to submit evidence for any soy volumes declared to be certified as well as evidence for any origin claims made.
Chain of Custody
Chain of custody refers to the process by which materials, in this case soy, and associated information are transferred, monitored, and controlled as they move through each step in a supply chain. There are three commonly recognised types of chain of custody models:
- Identity preserved (3rd Party Verified Supply Chain)
- Segregated (3rd Party Verified Supply Chain)
- Mass balance
These vary in terms of the level and detail of knowing the source of the product and its sustainability characteristics. For example, if the soy in a product is certified to a Segregated standard this means that it is kept physically separate from uncertified soy , although the certified soy is not necessarily traced and controlled back to a single identifiable source.
Whereas in a Mass Balance system, certified and uncertified soy are mixed at any stage of the supply chain, and the quantities are controlled such that the quantity of the soy sold to a certified Mass Balance standard is equivalent to the quantity of the certified soy produced.
Credits: Another common form of certification, though it does not link sustainable soy to a specific purchasing company's supply chain through a physical chain of custody
Certification Evidence
Certification Evidence is required to confirm that the soy you supply or purchase meets one of the accepted standards.
Physical: e.g. ProTerra MB/Segregated, RTRS MB/Segregated, Organic
RTRS credits: RTRS Standard credits or Regional Credits
Other credits: e.g. CRS standard credits or regional mass balance, ADM Responsible Soybean Standard v2, Cargill Triple S.
Organic: certification can be used to prove that soy is deforestation- and conversion-free because most organic soy is grown in low-risk areas.
Origin Evidence
There are different forms of origin evidence. We are asking you to provide the most robust form of origin evidence that you are able to.
New Forms of Accepted Evidence for 2025
The following forms of evidence will now be accepted as part of the reporting process:
Submitting Evidence
Evidence is easy to upload through the Mondra platform. You can upload multiple files through using the upload box, part 2 of your submission, including both certification and origin evidence documents.
Summary
Certification and/or origin evidence are key to DCF claims. To complete your soy declaration successfully:
- Provide clear, dated, and verifiable evidence for all certified or low risk soy volumes.
- Ensure your evidence matches the certification scheme and the chain of custody model reported
- Use the Table 1 in this guide to confirm which certification schemes and documents are accepted
- If anything is unclear, please refer to this guide or contact the team.
Providing complete and accurate evidence at the point of submission will ensure a smooth submission and help demonstrate credible progress towards deforestation-conversion-free soy sourcing
Contact 3Keel
For support throughout this process please do engage with the resources on the Knowledge Base and reach out to us at support.3Keel@mondra.com. We are also available on 01993 764 710 extension 400.
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