15 September 2009

In the debate on the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) in the Dutch House of Representatives on September 10, the Ministers of Agriculture and Development Cooperation underlined their continued support for the RTRS. In response to the comments and questions of Parliamentarians, Minister of Agriculture Verburg indicated she welcomed the agreement on the RTRS Principles and Criteria that was reached in Campinas in May. She underlined that one of the strengths of the agreement is the shared support for the criteria of both civil society and entrepreneurs.

Different members of parliaments questioned whether the results achieved by the RTRS are sufficient to address the sustainability issues related to soy. In response to these concerns minister Verburg remarked that we can’t be satisfied yet, and that there is still a lot of work to be done. But that this can only be done by small steps at a time and is a joined responsibility of all stakeholders involved.

Several members of Parliament wondered if the RTRS sufficiently addresses issues related to the sustainability of GM production. In response to this she remarked that sustainability and GM are not per se linked: Conventional soy can be ‘non sustainable’ and GM soy can be ‘sustainable’. It is important that sustainability issues are addressed by the criteria and they do that.

She further stated that even though the agreement may not be perfect we can not have the ambition that The Netherlands can dictate the conditions for soy production in other parts of the world.