Donau Soja standard

Donau Soja soya beans and soya bean products come from GM-free cultivation using GM-free soya bean varieties listed either in the EU common catalogue of plant varieties or in the respective national catalogue of plant varieties. Donau Soja soya bean farmers are not permitted to grow GM soya beans or any other GM crop. Animal feed with the quality label “Donau Soja” are suitable as feed for livestock, whose products may subsequently be marketed with the quality label “Ohne Gentechnik hergestellt” / “Produced without GMOs”.
The GMO-free status is based on the minimum requirements as set out by the following European GMO-free certification schemes:

• German EG-Gentechnik-Durchführungsgesetz (EGGenTDurchfG), with audits performed as stipulated by the German Verband Lebensmittel ohne Gentechnik (VLOG)
• Austrian Food Codex (Codex Alimentarius Austriacus) and the corresponding Leitfaden zur risikobasierten Kontrolle auf Gentechnikfreiheit (Guideline on the Risk-Based Monitoring of GMO-Free Production)
• Non-GM Danube Region Production and Labelling Standard & Non-GM Danube Region Inspection Standard.

In addition to the option of obtaining a non-GM certification in accordance with the Austrian Food Codex, German VLOG or Non-GM Danube Region Standards, the GMO-free status can also be verified during Donau Soja audits and certifications by checks conducted in compliance with the Non-GM Danube Region Standards, both published in 2015.

Donau Soja soya production complies with a strict no-land-use-change principle (no- deforestation / no-conversion) with a clear cut-off date: Donau Soja soya shall only be cultivated on land dedicated to agricultural use no later than 1 January 2008. Donau Soja soya shall not be grown in national and international nature reserves where the production of crops is prohibited. No new agricultural land shall be developed for Donau Soja soya production if this would result in loss of nature reserves, natural forests, riparian vegetation, wetlands, moors, floodplains or steep slopes. Where such changes have taken place, farmers are obliged to restore protected areas to their former state.

The Donau Soja standard requires farmers to comply with EU and international regulations on labour and social rights (ILO conventions). This ensures fair working conditions, including the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour; the effective abolition of child labour; the elimination of discrimination in respect to employment and occupation; freedom of association; decent wages; and secure labour conditions.

Donau Soja certification ensures that certified products are segregated from non-certified sources at each stage of the supply chain. For soya products, such as soya in the form of food or drinks or processed soya beans as feed, this is achieved through separation and correct declaration, both throughout the company and at every step of the supply chain. To ensure the traceability of raw soya beans, an IT-based lot certification system is in use when trading and transporting Donau Soja soya beans from the primary agricultural collector to the primary processor. Certificate of traceability may additionally be issued by the primary processor to the marketer. The traceability system comprises all certified companies registered in the Donau Soja IT database, as well as our partners who are listed on our website as certified partners.