The SAN pesticide management requirements of the 2018 SAN Sustainable Agriculture Framework (SAF) are based on a stronger integrated pest management (IPM) approach and the regulation of 400 pesticide active ingredients. This regulation includes the prohibition of 200 pesticides covered by the WHO/FAO frameworkof Highly Hazardous Pesticides, the prohibition of 30 obsolete substances and specific risk management requirements for an additional set of 170 active ingredients.

SAN developed its pesticide risk management approach during a 3-year process that started with technical governance decisions and scientific advice and included a combination of five global stakeholder consultation processes, field tests, and peer review of a diversity of expert committees. The approach is based on the OSU-IPPC scientific risk categorization of almost 800 pesticide substances, the 2008 WHO/FAO recommendation on highly hazardous pesticides and almost 20 years of SAN field and public consultation experience.

A state-of-the-science risk assessment process from the Oregon State University's Integrated Plant Protection Center connects individual pesticides to risk mitigation practices for the protection of human bystanders, pollinators, vertebrate wildlife and aquatic life. SAF indicators reassign the role of pesticides in agriculture production systems to tactic of last resort in IPM programs, and it clearly identifies the risks associated with many, widely-used compounds. It respects the imperative for economic production of high yield and high quality crops on farms, but it also provides opportunities for risk reduction through learning and adaptation by clearly identifying where mitigation is required.

The Sustainable Agriculture Framework is composed of ten chapters that summarize the impact areas in which SAN works. Each chapter contains an introduction that explains SAN approach and vision, and also indicates:

Sustainability goals. Specific goals within each impact area that facilitates the transition of the production processes and supply chains towards sustainability.
Outcomes. Expected changes enabled by the implementation and verification of a set of practices within production systems.
Performance indicators. Specific actions to be implemented and verified that indicate the “sustainable status” of an agricultural operation or process.

SAN works towards rural landscapes where natural ecosystems are protected and restored, and agricultural and livestock production has reduced carbon, toxicity and water footprints:

1. greenhouse gas emissions are minimized by increasing the use of clean and renewable energy, reducing the use of products derived from petroleum/fossil fuel, and optimizing fertilizer management;
2. on-farm ecosystems and biodiversity are protected and restored to enhance and maintain the ecosystem and cultural services they provide, including their function as carbon sinks;
3. integrated pest management strategies are adopted to reduce the negative impact of synthetic pesticide and fertilizer residues on aquatic ecosystems and plant, animal and human populations;
4. the use of pesticides with unacceptable risks is eliminated or phased out;
5. soil conditions are optimized to prevent soil erosion and depletion;
6. all water sources are conserved and water is used efficiently; and
7. waste production is minimized, and originated waste is categorized, reused, recycled or deposited in a way that does not negatively affect soil, water, air, animals, plants or people.