The environmental and social sustainability platform VISEC, together with the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Buenos Aires, FAUBA, and the support of AL-INVEST Verde, organised on 16 December in Buenos Aires the First Dialogue Meeting on Legality and Traceability in the face of the European Regulation on Deforestation Free Products (EUDR).

The event brought together institutional representatives, technical specialists and leaders from the agro-industrial sector at the headquarters of the Argentine Rural Society (SRA), with the aim of analyse the challenges and opportunities presented by Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 for Argentine agricultural export chains. Specifically, the legality criterion set out in the EUDR was analysed, together with the rights of indigenous peoples, labour and human rights, and tax and trade regulations, among other aspects.

During the opening of the event, Nicolás Pino, president of the SRA, emphasised the importance of platforms such as VISEC and others like it for compliance with the EUDR, stating that “we have to demonstrate with concrete facts the quality of producers that we are. We have to work together with many partners.”.

Carolina Pivetta, technical representative for Argentina at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), emphasised that “the incorporation of new social and environmental requirements opens up opportunities.” “International trade can help us strengthen sustainable development and food security, and in Latin America, we must recognise these practices and reinforce them,” she added.

The event was also attended by José Voytenco, secretary general of the Argentine Union of Rural Workers and Stevedores (UATRE), who also highlighted the value of initiatives such as VISEC in boosting food production and the need to comply with the EUDR's legality criteria. “This should not be seen as a threat, but as an opportunity to raise the quality of Argentine employment. When we talk about legality, we are talking about millions of people, not just the Regulation,” he said.

Legality matrix

The first panel focused on the legality matrix implemented in the VISEC platform, supported by AL-INVEST Verde and is based on the matrix developed by IICA for Argentina. Sabine Papendieck, technical manager for the development of IICA's legality matrix, explained the details of this matrix and its implementation in VISEC.

The tools available from the National Registry of Rural Workers and Employers (RENATRE) and the SRA for sustainable production were also presented. Sol Henchoz, general manager of RENATRE, detailed the information on labour collected by the registry and explained that, in the case of VISEC, it shares information on wage payments and child labour to integrate it into the platform. For his part, Lucas Osardo, Sustainability Leader at the SRA, presented the SRA's triple impact seal, a differentiation system for agricultural and forestry producers who are committed to sustainability as a strategic focus.

The day continued with a presentation on how the VISEC platform works to achieve deforestation-free certification for soy (VISEC Soy) and meat (VISEC Meat). The presentation was given by Josefina Vecino Beauge, general coordinator of VISEC, and Gerardo Leotta, from the Technical Management of the Argentine Beef Exporters Consortium (ABC). Among other benefits, they highlighted that VISEC is a voluntary scheme with formal government recognition, multi-stakeholder governance (with agreements with state agencies such as ARCA, SENASA, and RENATRE), free for producers, and includes training on its use.

The event concluded with speeches by Mario Ravettino, president of the Chamber of Cold Storage Industry, and Gustavo Idígoras, president of the Oil Industry Chamber, who highlighted their commitment to continue working together as an agro-export industry to comply with the environmental and labour standards demanded by markets, mainly the European Union, and reiterated that regulations such as the EUDR “are not a threat, they are a great opportunity for positioning”.

About AL-INVEST Verde

AL-INVEST Verde is a European Union (EU) programme whose main objective is to promote sustainable growth and job creation in Latin America by supporting the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and more circular economy. Through Component 2, led by FIAP in consortium with IILA, the programme provides assistance for strengthening public policies and multi-stakeholder dialogues on sustainable agricultural and value chains, environmental and labour standards, as well as sustainable trade and economic policy and regulatory frameworks.