In 2023, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) launched its Corn Sustainability Assurance Protocol (CSAP) and the accompanying Sustainable Corn Exports (SCE) web platform. These tools were created to establish a baseline for engagement with international stakeholders across the supply chains that U.S. corn and corn products participate globally, and help those stakeholders satisfy existing and emerging sustainability requirements and preferences from policymakers and consumers.

The Council’s efforts led to the registration of 96 users, including 14 U.S. exporters, 71 international importers and 11 supply chain users. In addition, the SCE issued 145 Records of Sustainability (ROS) covering approximately 1.3 million metric tons of exports of U.S. corn and corn products.

In 2024, the Council intensified its engagements to move beyond awareness of its sustainability tools across international supply chains and drive up usage among major customers in its most important markets. To achieve this, staff executed in-person, hybrid and virtual programs, as well as direct customer engagements through in-country agendas, directly reaching more than 1,400 people and many more through social and traditional media communications. The programs focused on customers in China, Costa Rica, the European Union, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Thailand among others.

By the end of 2024, more than 250 exporters, importers and supply chain users were registered on the platform and more than 1,400 ROS had been issued for more than 16 million metrics tons of exports of U.S. corn products since the program started.

Furthermore, the Council’s efforts to position the sustainability of U.S. products were successful not only for yellow corn, which made up over 80% of all issued ROSs, but also for white corn and fast-growing products like distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), which also had more than one million metric tons of exports covered by the program.

In total, U.S. corn exports in more 30 countries received the assurances of U.S. corn sustainability through the SCE platform, supporting continued presence across established markets and the Council’s goal of expanding U.S. market share in growing sectors such as aquaculture in multiple geographies.