Technical Guidelines

Technical Guidelines
The Technical Certification Guidelines (TCGs) for obtaining the concept-brand seal contain the premises for attesting to the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) mitigation in the agricultural production process in candidate areas. These Technical Guidelines structure the entire certification process and serve as the basis for the certification protocol and checklist used in practice to evaluate and award the Low Carbon Soy Seal by accredited certifiers. That is a constructive dynamic process in constant evolution, so, after field validation, the technical guidelines are updated in a new approximation, which is then published.

Following recommendation of the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practices for Setting Social and Environmental Standards (ISEAL, 2014), the TGCs were structured by experts, including researchers and representatives of the production sector, among other stakeholders. Based on a careful analysis of the information compiled, a structure focused on mitigating GHG emissions was created, which includes two Technical Certification Guidelines (TCGs): (1) Adequacy of the Rural Property and (2) Adequacy of the Production System. Each TCD has Eligibility Criteria and Achievement Indicators that the candidate area must attain to receive the LCS Seal.
Technical Guidelines for Certification
Eligibility Criteria
Scope Indicator
Legally registered rural property

Rural property without environmental fines and/or embargoes

Owner without convictions for child labor or slavery-like practices

Rural property with active Brazilian Rural Environmental Registry
Scope Indicator
Rural property free from vegetation and crop residue burning
Scope Indicator
Compliance with the Sanitary Vacancy period

Sowing calendar respected

Water use rights authorization and environmental licensing obtained
Eligibility Criteria
Scope Indicator
No-Till Farming System correctly adopted

Good co-inoculation practices adopted

Correction and soil fertilization and according to technical analysis and recommendations (quantity, placement, frequency)

Pesticides used according to technical prescriptions
Scope Indicator
Minimum value of the Sustainable Agricultural Practices Adoption Index (SAPAI) reached
Scope Indicator
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity (GHGEI) of the candidate production system lower than the baseline (reference)

Compensation for emissions related to Land Use Change
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