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standards and certifications. In Japan, for example, there is high demand for special agricultural products and, for example, the Japanese consumer is willing to pay high prices for better quality products such as organic, eco-friendly and fair trade products. Japan constitutes a key buyer and the Association represents the second most important supplier of this agricultural product in Japan (Roldán, 2011). The regulation to these agricultural activities in Colombia has mainly focused on the control of foreign trade, quality of products and taxes but not specifically concerning environmental issues. Nevertheless, any industrial activity in Colombia must comply with water use, air emissions and the management of residues. From interviews and sustainability reports, there is evidence of a general legal framework in which the environmental management of any industrial activity must be kept in compliance with water use, air emissions and residual management. No evidence was found of community pressure for the adoption of environmental strategies. Currently, the surrounding communities of the agricultural farms benefit from the projects developed by the Association for its associates, who also belong to the influenced communities. Table 26. Business Context – Agri-business. Esa factor Business context
Categories
Main features
Coercive
General legal framework for water use, air emissions and residual management. Neither environmental license nor hearing process requests apply to this industrial sector.
Mimetic
Main competitor’s practices associated to climate change adaptation and best practices.
Normative
Industry standards such as ISO 14001, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and 4C certification among other sustainability protocols.
b) Business model Agri-business runs a dynamic business model focused on the improvement of the productive chain, in order to generate revenues for its associates, reduce environmental impacts by the use of cleaner technologies, adopt best productive agricultural practices and strengthen the social tissue of farmer communities.