A commitment to sustainability
The Environmentally Responsible Agave (ARA) certification consists of the implementation of a protocol that assures the consumer that the agave used for its production has not caused deforestation
Rubén ZermeñoThe Tequila Agroindustry, the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT) and the governments of the states of Jalisco and Guanajuato, on México, busy with their sustainability commitments, launch ARA (the Agave Responsible for the Environment certification), which seeks to leave a positive footprint on the environment.
The Environmentally Responsible Agave (ARA) certification consists of the implementation of a protocol that, based on the tequila traceability system, assures the consumer that the agave used for its production has not caused deforestation, and that such agave was planted only on land with agricultural vocation, thus contributing to improve its environmental footprint.
This certification is a certification mark registered in co-ownership between the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT) and the government of the state of Jalisco before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property in the year 2021.
It is the first certification on deforestation in alcoholic beverages worldwide, at the use of a raw material grown on soils that did not cause deforestation.
It currently applies to all 125 municipalities of the state of Jalisco, and seven municipalities from the state of Guanajuato: Abasolo, Cuerámaro, Huanímaro, Manuel Doblado, Pénjamo, Purísima del Rincón and Romita, were added as municipalities that are part of the territory protected by the Tequila Denomination of Origin (DOT).
In addition, work is already being done to include the remaining AOT municipalities in the short term to reach 100 percent including Michoacán, Nayarit and Tamaulipas.
How does it work?
The agave producer, prior to planting his agaves, must download the polygon of his property. To do this, you can use the Field Browser app and the video tutorial on the Tequila Regulatory Council’s YouTube channel, or any program that allows you to make your polygon in one of the following formats (GeoJSON, Shp, Geopackage, or Kml).
Once they have the polygon, the viability of the property is checked on the compatibility maps developed by the governments of Jalisco and Guanajuato, which can be found at wwww.mapa.jalisco.gob.mx and at https:// smaot.guanajuato.gob.mx/agave/ respectively.
Both maps will provide the answer as to whether the land is with a forestry or agricultural vocation.
The agave producer must pre-register their plantation with the CRT, showing their compatibility report for agave cultivation.
The authorized tequila producer who purchases agave from land that has not been deforested may request the use of the ARA certification mark from the CRT.
In addition to compliance with the NOM-006-SCFI-2012 tequila standard, tequila producers must prove that the agave used for the production of tequila batches did not cause deforestation and may bear the ARA certification brand.
With this, it is sought that by the year 2027 the supply of Agave tequilana Weber blue variety destined for the production of tequila in its entirety, has not caused deforestation of natural forests, taking into account the year 2016.
The above will contribute to the transformation and international competitiveness of tequila in the new climate context.
So far, 275 thousand liters of tequila have been produced with this certification. Eventually all the production of the companies will be able to be certified as ARA tequila.
The consumer will be able to identify the tequila free of deforestation with an ARA seal that the bottle will carry.
In addition, collaboration will be made so that these processes also contribute to the conservation and restoration of forests with the implementation of measures of corporate social-environmental responsibility, technical assistance and promotion of good agro-environmental practices.
