ABSTRACT
Standards have long existed to certify various crops and commodities (e.g. forestry, cotton, sugar). According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO, 2011), standards are useful as they facilitate trade, and provide information on
health, environmental and technical issues to facilitate governments in creating legislation. An organization can be certified to show that it follows a quality standard. The certification is issued by a “certification body”, which has been accredited to do so by a national “accreditation body”. In the case of biofuels, since the EU Directive on Biofuels (EC, 2003) came into force the setting of targets to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gases in Europe has promoted an increasing demand for biofuels imports from developing countries. This increment was expected to come mainly from sugar cane, soya, palm oil, rapeseed, wood products and other biofuel feedstock (see Walter et al., 2008; DiazChavez and Woods, 2008). One of the first calls to put an eco-certification system for biofuels in Europe came from a report from WWF (WWF, 2006), not only for those biofuels produced internally but also for those imported. The European Commission (EC) also acknowledged the concern, indicating that depending on the production process and on the land used for this purpose biofuel production could be either an environmentally friendly process that contributes positively to climate change mitigation or the opposite (COM, 2006). In April 2009, the European Parliament adopted the Directive on the Promotion of Energy from Renewable Sources (2009/28/EC). The Renewable Energy Directive set targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent, to establish a 20 per cent share for renewable energy and to improve energy efficiency by 20 per cent, to be achieved by 2020 (known as the 20-20-20 targets). Additionally, a specific target was announced to establish a 10 per cent share of renewables in transport by the same date. These commitments also included reporting obligations for the Commission on the impact on social sustainability of increased demand for biofuels in the EU and in third countries. In addition, the EU biofuel policy required an assessment on the impacts on the availability of food at affordable prices, in particular for people living in developing countries. Based on the results of these reporting obligations on social sustainability, a revision of the Renewable Energy Directive is foreseen possibly to include additional criteria ensuring the socioeconomic sustainability of biomass and biofuels (Diaz-Chavez, 2010). Currently, most sugar cane-producing countries have local production standards for emission reductions/allowance and apply the International Organization for Standardization ISO 14000 environmental management standard. The series of ISO 14000 aim to establish procedures to control and improve environmental performance. Nevertheless, the development of better management practices can be seen as a tool to understand and reduce environmental and social impacts, promoting sustainable development in producer countries. It is likely that producers who adopt better management practices can expect more efficient production to increase their net margins and improve social and environmental outcomes. Among the major agricultural crops that are of interest for bioenergy is sugar cane for ethanol production. For bioethanol production on an industrial scale, the possibility of applying the better management standards would benefit the producer countries by promoting a more sustainable production of sugar cane. This chapter explores the available standards and
schemes to verify or certify sugar cane production worldwide and highlight some specifications in Africa. Lastly, an attempt is made at reviewing some of the implications from standards for the export markets in third countries.
