Our certifications

Sustainability certifications

We deliver a wide range of certified products to meet customer requirements. We use sustainability certification schemes to promote responsible agricultural practices, while creating value for producers by providing an incentive to produce sustainable commodities and expanding access to markets. These efforts are vital to fulfilling our sustainability strategy and ensuring the future success of our business. We have created our own Responsible Agriculture Standard for grains and oilseeds, and the Coffee Responsible Origin Programme for Coffee, while continuing to source products through sector-wide schemes.

With grains & oilseeds being a major business for COFCO International, we work with a large number of certification schemes that are widely recognised across this sector. See our grains & oilseeds-specific offering in the link below:

COFCO International Responsible Agriculture Standard

The COFCO International Responsible Agriculture Standard is our own sustainability certification programme. It is applicable to products including soybean, corn, and soybean oil, meal and hull pellets, and can be used in a mass balance model at site- or country-level.

Suppliers who join this programme commit to produce their crops in line with criteria in these areas:

• Legal compliance
• Respect for human and labour rights
• Protection of community relations
• Environmental responsibility, including no land use change since 2020
• Good agricultural practices.

The Standard has two modules:

• Module 1: focuses on Deforestation- and Conversion-Free (DCF) verification. The supplier selects the cut-off date for land use change (e.g. 2008, 2020), and farm-level traceability and satellite image assessments are used to verify compliance. These assessments are externally verified.
• Module 2: involves on-farm third-party audits to verify compliance with all criteria in the standard, and requires a 2020 cut-off date for land use change.

Module 2 of the Standard has been independently verified and has passed benchmarking against the FEFAC (European feed compounder association) 2023 Soy Sourcing Guidelines, and is an accepted scheme under the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Feed Standard. It is also recognised by QS as a standard for responsible soybean production and as a recommended certification scheme for Consumer Goods Forum Forest Positive Coalition members to meet their commitments. 

The Standard is available on the ITC Standards Map Platform.

The COFCO Standard has an operational Committee comprised of representatives from Origination, Commercial, Sustainability, Legal & Quality Assurance teams. Ultimate governance of sustainability at COFCO International is managed at the board level by our CEO and Chairman. 

The COFCO Responsible Agriculture Standard was originally developed based on input from multiple stakeholders. To ensure our work meets stakeholder expectations, COFCO International continuously engages with many stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, regulators, lenders, industry associations and NGOs. Our commitment to the continuous improvement is translated into our availability to receive feedback from all stakeholders for suggestions and concerns through COFCO's regular communication channels at [email protected]. The Standard is revised periodically, and stakeholders are able to participate in a 90-day public consultation in the fourth quarter of each year, a formal process. Updates to the Standard may happen on a shorter timeframe if deemed necessary. If such changes are applicable to sourcing farms, they will have one crop cycle (one year) to comply with novelties of the standard, depending on the criticality of the matter.

Third-party certification and verification schemes

We use sustainability certification schemes to help ensure that we follow the highest standards of supply chain sustainability, tackling a wide range of requirements, from deforestation- and conversion-free production to sound occupational health and safety management. The schemes that we work with are listed below.

	The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is a global certification program for responsible aquaculture. COFCO International Responsible Agriculture Standard is compliant with the ASC Accepted Schemes List criteria under the ASC Feed Standard.
	The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) promotes the growth of production, trade and use of responsible soy, and manages a global certification standard applicable to assets, supply chains and soy products.
	The Biomass and Biofuels Sustainability Voluntary Scheme (2BSvs) covers sustainability criteria including greenhouse gas emissions, conservation of land with high biodiversity value, high carbon stocks and peat land.
	The International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) works to achieve sustainable agricultural production and traceable commodity supply chains.
	We buy, process and sell G&O products that respect the requirements of the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including the specific requirements for pesticide use and, particularly, those that enable the production of G&O-derived biofuel that meets the requirements of the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard.
	The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) mission is to build a sustainable palm supply chain with transparency and traceability.
	The Selo Biocombustivel Social (Social Biofuel Seal) seeks to improve the inclusion of smallholder farmers in Brazil’s biodiesel supply chain.
	RenovaBio is the Brazilian National Biofuel Programme, with the objective to reduce the carbon intensity of the transport sector, while catalysing a sustainable biofuel industry. RenovaBio-certified biofuel is produced in line with strict environmental requirements, including zero deforestation.
	The Green Energy Seal is a programme managed by the Brazilian sugarcane and bioenergy industry association UNICA.
	The Bonsucro certification is an internationally recognised sustainability certification that is awarded to mills that meet advanced environmental and social requirements. Our Meridiano sugar mill received this certification.
	The “Etanol Mais Verde” (Greener Ethanol) Protocol can be applied by sugar mills and their certification proves adherence to a set of technical directives that address environmental risks associated to the production of sugar and sugar-derived ethanol.
	The 4C Code of Conduct is a set of baseline sustainability principles for coffee production.
	Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices encompass social, economic and environmental indicators.
	USDA Organic Standards identify requirements for protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity and using approved substances in farming.
	Coffee is certified as grown in accordance with the Rainforest Alliance (RFA) Sustainable Agriculture Standard, covering a range of environmental and social criteria. This latest standard was developed following the merger between RFA and UTZ.
	Fairtrade covers economic, environmental and social criteria, including the Fairtrade Minimum Price for producers and workers in developing countries.
	Raíz Sustainability programme supports farmers to adopt best agricultural practices and improve resiliency.

Product quality and safety certifications

We uphold rigorous standards to ensure that the products we deliver are safe and of high quality, and that our facilities and supply chains comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Our quality management systems are managed in accordance with selected standards and sector best practice, and our operations are certified against recognised schemes such as those listed below, varying with region and commodity.

Other environmental and social recognitions

In addition to certifications, we also hold a number of recognitions for our sustainability and quality practices. For example:

• The environmental and occupational health & safety management systems of some of our sites are certified against ISO standards 14001:2015 and 45001:2018, respectively
• In 2024, the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validated our corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets, recognising their alignment to latest climate science
• Our Santos port terminal has been awarded the Gold Seal of the Brazilian GHG Protocol Programme (PBGHGP)
• COFCO International Brazil has been consistently recognised as a Great Place to Work (GPTW) and recently received a certification from Great People Mental Health for its best practices