Sustainable certification: the project of LATU and the Union of Exporters for a "Green Export"

It’s about the projectGreen Export Unit” seeks to support exporting companies in the country in the implementation of sustainable practices that allow them to improve their competitive positioning in the most demanding markets.

“Historically, what was certified was the quality of a product itself. Now we are going further. The product, in addition to being good, must have been produced respecting the environment”explained the president of LATU, Rupert Long.

Ultimately, it is Where is the world headed to; companies that get certificate they gain access to a better position that implies more stable markets and an economic plus (they can sell the product at a better price). “Whoever manages to advance in this field undoubtedly has a better opportunity,” added the engineer.

In this new phase, the creation of the Green Export Unit aims at social, environmental and governance sustainability. LATU and UEU will also prepare a manual that guides companies on how to implement sustainability in their business models, which will then allow institutions to show the progress of each organization.

From left to right, Álvaro Delgado, Andrea Roth and Ruperto Long

For the President of the UEU, Andrea Roth, it is about “creating the necessary incentives that motivate companies”. He defined it as follows: “We seek to integrate all those who want, to think together and generate synergies. From the UEU we always say that we want be a good articulator, (…) add and unite efforts. The sum of these efforts is what will allow Uruguay to advance in sustainability and help fulfill the commitments that we assume as a country referring to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Pact.”

Uruguay in the race

Long said that Uruguayan export companies place the country “in a prominent position”, regarding sustainability. “But that does not mean that we do not have a huge task ahead of us. There are many things that help us, and We have to have faith and get excited about this goal. But it is necessary to walk the path. What is true is that we are in the raceand among those who can fight to occupy a place on the podium”, he considered.

Leadership

Roth explained that work has been going on for more than a year to make this certification possible, which has already been put into practice. The signature of the cooperation agreement which authorities attended, was just the formalization of the agreement to certify sustainable companies. The activity, held at LATU (Montevideo), was attended by the Secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado and the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, Omar Paganiniwho highlighted the scope of the agreement.

Delgado said that it is a public-private articulation “first level, looking to tomorrow”. And he called to talk about “leadership” to refer to Uruguayan exports. “You don’t have to be afraid of that word. Uruguay has to start valuing what it does much more. Uruguay is much more advanced in these matters than many countries with which we compete and, sometimes, we don’t value ourselves,” transmitted.

Camila Casas

Ruperto Long and Andrea Roth sign the cooperation agreement, on July 27 at LATU

For Roth, to the extent that the certification is consolidated, the companies will be “more demanded”. “We believe that those that do not advance may be exposed to losing markets,” he warned. Therefore, institutions create a Roadmap to help companies in that process; It involves workshops, guides, manuals and training.

For his part, Long added that the objective is “to generate a set of companies that stand out, that can spread (their sustainable practices) and that is a factor of emulation.” He added: “When a company begins to be certified in an area, others immediately follow. So, it is to generate a spearhead that later leads many others to want to take the same path. It is a kind of virtuous circle”.