This page provides an overview of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) risks related to soy grown in Bolivia.
Bolivia has approximately 1.21 million hectares of soy farms (2015/16), of which 95% are in the Integrated and Expansion zones of Santa Cruz state. The total soy yield in 2015/16 was between 2.1 and 3 million tons, of which, approximately 70% was destined for export (as soy paste, oil and soybean).
Soy is produced on:
- Small farms, up to 50 ha.
- Medium-size farms, between 50 and 500 ha.
- Large farms, over 500 ha.
Soy production in Bolivia is linked to the following environmental threats:
- Deforestation. Over the past 15 years, soy production has led to the loss of over one million hectares of forest.
- Biodiversity loss
- Water and soil pollution by agrochemical use
- Carbon emissions resulting from fires to clear land.
Land tenure conflicts continue exist in the expansion zone threatening indigenous and traditional communities’ rights. It is also reported that a high number of soy farms use informal labour, are non-compliant with health and safety regulations, and evade taxes. The biggest underlying threats are corruption and weak enforcement of the law.
A number of CSR risks are present in Bolivian soy supply chains. The risks are wide ranging and appear across the business, social and environmental areas. If you are sourcing soy from Bolivia you should take care to ensure the extensive risks identified are not present in your supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated.
Score: 29 / 100 in 2018
Rank: 132 out of 180 countries in 2018
There are currently no armed conflicts in Bolivia according to the Council on Foreign Relations' Global Conflict Tracker.
The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) certification is available in Bolivia but no soy has yet been certified (2017).
Information Gathering
Gather information on your supply chain
- Find out the different sources of soy
- Determine which source type your soy comes from
- Find out the main documents that can be used to indicate legality throughout the supply chain
Sources of soy
Soy source types | Description of source type |
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Small producers |
Soy from small mono-crop farms of up to 50 hectares which are owned and managed by families, mainly for subsistence. In Santa Cruz, 84% of the farms are small and they occupy approximately 24% of the crop area. |
Medium producers |
Soy from medium-sized commercial mono-crop farms of 50 to 500 hectares. In Santa Cruz, 13% of the farms are medium-sized and they occupy 21% of the crop area. The farms are mechanized and are linked to the supply chain via local traders or mills. Approximately two-thirds of farms are under foreign ownership. |
Large producers | Soy from large company-owned commercial industrial plantations of over 500 hectares. In Santa Cruz, large producers make up only 3% of producers but occupy 56% of the area. Approximately two-thirds of farms are under foreign ownership. |
Documents to indicate legality
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Commodity level
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Processing, trade and transport
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Export and customs
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Risk Assessment
Assess the risks in your supply chain
- Find out the main environmental, social and legality risks
- Download the full risk assessment to see more detail
Main environmental, social and legality risks
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Business issues
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Conversion
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Social issues
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Environmental issues
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GMO
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Risk Mitigation
Mitigate the risks in your supply chain
Learn which actions we recommended to mitigate the risks associated with the soy sources from Bolivia.
Mitigation recommendations
We have two tools to help you mitigate risks for Bolivian soy supply chains:
- The Supplier Evaluation Checklist for soy from Bolivia will help you identify and specify the risks in your supply chain.
- The Risk Mitigation Guide gives you a detailed overview of risks in Bolivia, and how to mitigate them.
The tools above give you the most information. Below is a summary of our recommended actions to mitigate the risks associated with the soy sources from Bolivia.
1. Fully map your supply chain
- Our supply chain mapping tool can help you do this.
2. Obtain and verify documents
- Land tenure and business documents
- Title of Property (Titulo ejecutorial)
- Cadastral Certificate – which attests to the current rights held by the land owner
- Rural Cadastral Management System (Catastro del Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria (INRA). Check that the farm is registered
- Transfer Registration – a record of cadastral registration
- For land renters:
- Rental contract that should verify the land is rented under long-term contract conditions
- Record of rent payments
- Records of Free Prior Informed Consent and copies of negotiated agreements (if applicable)
- Registration certificate and operating license with the Chamber of Commerce Registry of Bolivia (Registro de Comercio de Bolivia (SENAREC), for large producers and companies (which can be confirmed via RAU registration)
- Identity Card (Cedula de identidad)
- Unified Farming Regime registration (Régimen Agrario Unificado, RAU) for small and medium-sized producers
- Authorised Plan for Land Use Changes
- Property Zoning Plan (Plan de Ordenamiento Predial)
- Official maps for Auditing and Socialization of Forests and Lands (Autoridad de Fiscalización y Socialización de Bosques y Tierras, ABT)
- Fundempresa Registration
- A map identifying traditional communities close to the farm, to help identify potential conflicts over land use. Your supplier map be able to provide such a map
- Tax related documents, for large producers and companies only (which can be confirmed via RAU registration)
- Taxpayer Identification Number (Número de Identificación Tributaria, NIT)
- Forms 200 and/or 210 to confirm monthly VAT payments
- Value Added Tax (VAT) monthly summary statement
- Form 400 confirm monthly Income Tax (IT) payments
- Purchase/Sales Journal (Libro de Compras y Ventas (LCV)
- Annual company report
- Sales documents - check that they include applicable VAT
- National Taxation Service Report (Impuestos Nacionales)
- Form 701 for RAU tax payment
- Form 500 for companies that are required to keep accounting records or Form 520 for companies that are not required to keep accounting records
- Form 605 to verify financial statements or annual reports submissions
- Employment-related documents
- Mandatory Employee Mandatory Employee Registry (Registro Obligatorio de Empleadores, ROE). Cross check with a sample of Employee Identify Cards (Cédula de Identidad, CI)
- Employer (Número de Identificación Tributaria, NIT)
- Bank certification of assets
- Labor Department Report (Oficina de empleo)
- Salary payment receipts
- Registration of employees’ union or workers’ association
- Company policies and procedures - check that they confirm that ILO Fundamental Conventions are upheld
- Health and Safety related documents
- Mandatory Social Security system registration with the Institute of National Occupational Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud Ocupacional, INSO)
- General occupational risk survey
- Occupational health and safety plan
- Record of accidents
- First Aid Manual
- Records of health and safety events and training
- Records of pre-employment and annual medical exams
- Environmental documents
- Environmental Impact Study
- Mitigation Plan
- Approved burning permit
- License permit for Chemical use issued by National Registry of Agricultural Inputs (if applicable)
- Authorised Plan for Land Use Changes (ATB)
- Official ATB data and maps
- Organic soy certificate – if applicable
- Santa Cruz land use map confirms that the farm is not located in a protected area
- Maps of nationally and regionally protected areas confirm that the farm is not located in a protected area
- State Territory Zoning Plan, to confirm that the farm is not located in a protected area
- A list of species categorised by threat level, and identifying rare, endemic, threatened and endangered species in accordance with the IUCN list and CITES provincial lists confirms that the farm does not threaten protected species.
- The following documents confirm that the farm does not threaten High Conservation Values:
- High Conservation Value (HCV) assessments
- Proxy maps and data of, e.g., biological corridors, watersheds/courses, buffer zones, riparian and conservation areas, vulnerable slopes/soils, high fire risk areas, critical local communities and indigenous populations sites and resources, habitats and landscapes of cultural, archaeological or national or international historic importance
- The farm’s Property Zoning Maps and Property Zoning Plan (POP) when cross checked against the following documents confirm that no deforestation has taken place (illegal or since 2005):
- Property of Title (Titulo Ejecutorial)
- Property Zoning Plan (PoP)
- Official ATB maps
- Authorised Plan for Land Use Changes (ATB)
- The ABT Hotspot Monitoring (Monitoreo de focos de calor) website confirms that no burning has taken place on the farm
- Trade and transport documents
- Registration in the Trade Registry
- Bill of Lading
- Commercial Invoice
- Packing List
- DUP (Documento Unico Portuario). The costs of producing this document are included in Border Compliance
- Road Transport Document
- Export Permit (Formulario Único de Exportación de Minerales y Metales)
- Customs Export Declaration
- Customs Transit Document
- Drug trafficking inspection report (Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Narcotráfico)
- Collection Order
- Genetic modification documents
- The INIAF registry confirms whether the producer is registered and is a GMO producer
3. Consult stakeholders
- Neighbours, local communities, landowners and other stakeholders confirm that land tenure rights are clear and, where applicable, the lease of the land has been agreed by all the landowners
- Neighbours, local communities, landowners and other stakeholders (such as (Catastro del Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria, INRA) and Amnesty International) confirm that there are not any court orders or other legal decisions that mean that the company is not allowed to operate due to conflicts of land tenure.
- The Chamber of Commerce Registry of Bolivia (Registro de Comercio de Bolivia (SENAREC) confirms that the company is registered (for large producers only)
- The National Taxation Service confirms the validity of the supplier’s:
- NIT (Número de Identificación Tributaria) Registration number
- National Taxation Service (Impuestos Nacionales) Report
- Submission of sworn statements linked to Form 701
- Staff and contractors confirm that legally required protection equipment is required and provided by the organisation
- Employees confirm that their work duties, work hours and pay meet legal requirements
- The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Welfare (Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Previsión Social) and/or Santa Cruz Labor Department (Oficina Departamental De Trabajo) confirm that the supplier’s employees are officially registered (ROE)
- The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Welfare (Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Previsión Social) and/or Santa Cruz Labor Department (Oficina Departamental De Trabajo) confirm there are not any outstanding lawsuits against the employer regarding labour issues
- The Santa Cruz office of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Wellbeing (Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Previsión Social) confirm that the supplier conducted a general occupational risk survey
- Expert organisations at the regional and national levels (e.g. WWF Bolivia, Friends of Nature Foundation (Fundación amigos de la naturaleza) confirm that no unauthorized burning has taken place
- Workers and neighbours confirm that no unauthorized burning has taken place
- Expert organisations at the regional and national levels (e.g. WWF Bolivia, ABT, Fundación Tierra (Land Foundation), Friends of Nature Foundation (Fundación amigos de la naturaleza)) confirm that the soy farm is not in a protected area and does not threaten protected species and/or High Conservation Values
- Relevant authorities confirm that no unauthorized burning has been conducted
- The Seeds Council (Comité de semillas, COSEM) confirms the validity of any seed certificates, to determine if genetically modified seeds are used
4. Carry out on-site verification
- Confirm the farm is within the boundaries marked on relevant licenses
- Confirm that the company has an occupational safety and health (H&S) programme, and that training, procedures and equipment, occupational safety and wellbeing committees are in place
- Confirm management plans for environmental issues, protected sites, protected species and High Conservation Values are implemented and monitored
- Confirm that maps/remote sensing images for deforestation reflect reality
- Confirm that all workers are employed according to the regulations and required contracts
- Confirm that employees:
- Are covered by mandatory insurance policies
- Hold certificates of competence required for the function that they perform
- Are paid a salary which is officially stated by the employer according to legal requirements
- Are above the minimum age Are paid at least the legally established minimum wage
- Confirm that the company does not employ unregistered workers, either on probation, or who receive government benefits for the unemployed
- Confirm that there has been an active consultation and/or Free Prior Informed Consent was conducted and that there is a dispute-resolution mechanism in place
- Confirm that the supplier has documentation or a copy of a conservation management plan that ensures required legally protected areas and species are safeguarded in accordance with the law
- Confirm the existence of a burning permit and fire protection plan