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1 Palm oil
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2 Sustainable palm oil
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Q: Which social problems are addressed by the RSPO?
Palm oil production employs and supports millions of plantation workers, small farmers and their
families. The social criteria for plantations are directed at strengthening local poor people’s livelihoods
by preventing conflicts about the rights to use land, providing income security to workers, small oil
palm farmers and their families, protecting health and living environments, ensuring human and labor
rights, and supporting legal compliance.
Q: Who has developed the RSPO Principles and Criteria for sustainable palm oil production?
The RSPO Principles and Criteria were drafted through an open and intensive dialogue between oil
palm growers, palm oil processors and traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers,
banks/investors, environmental/nature conservation NGOs and social/developmental NGOs. Also,
public consultation rounds were held to gain additional input.
Q: It is true that RSPO Principles, Criteria and Indicators only cover primary rainforest and not peat
lands or forests that are in the process of rehabilitation?
No, that is incorrect. The RSPO Principles, Criteria and Indicators extend far beyond just conserving
primary rainforest. They require a comprehensive, independent social and environmental impact
assessment, which includes soil types and other high conservation values important for biodiversity.
So-called National Interpretation Working Groups have specified local types of growth and soils that
must be avoided by new plantings.
Q: What impact will adherence to the RSPO Principles and Criteria have on palm oil productivity levels?
It is widely assumed that oil palm’s genetic potential will enable further increases in productivity. By
applying good agricultural practices, as recommended in the RSPO Principles and Criteria, many
growers should be able to significantly increase average yields per hectare. That means that, even
without further clearing of primary forests, peat lands or other high conservation value areas, world
production of palm oil will be able to see continued growth.
Q: Does sustainable palm oil production make the use of palm oil as a biofuel fully sustainable as well?
RSPO’s certification systems are limited to the production of palm oil and to its subsequent supply
chain. They do not address potential sustainability issues of specific applications of palm oil.
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3 The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
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Dozens of sustainable oil palm plantations in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have
already been certified, and more plantations and mills are under review. By early 2010, more than
1.5 million tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) had been produced, and more than 450
thousand of those had been sold under an RSPO scheme.
The Roundtable has issued strict communication and marketing guidelines for consumer good
manufacturers and retail companies to make sure that consumers receive accurate and
transparent information on the way products contain or merely support sustainable palm oil.
Q: Does RSPO support the production of palm oil for use as a biofuel?
RSPO promotes sustainable ways to grow oil palm and produce palm oil. The various ways in which
sustainable palm oil can be applied by end-users are not part of the RSPO’s mandate.
Q: Does RSPO prevent other crops from expanding at the cost of primary forests or other high
conservation value areas?
RSPO promotes sustainable ways to grow oil palm and produce palm oil. RSPO does not address
potential indirect effects of palm oil production on the cultivation of other crops.
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Q: Who manages the RSPO?
The RSPO is managed by an Executive Board comprising of 16 members. They are elected by a General
Assembly for two-year terms. Executive Board seats are allocated as follows: oil palm growers (4),
palm oil processors and/or traders (2), consumer goods manufacturers (2), retailers (2), banks /
investors (2), environmental / nature conservation NGOs (2) and social/developmental NGOs (2).
RSPO’s Secretary-General is responsible for operational management and the RSPO Secretariat.
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4 Certification & Control
Q: How does the certification scheme prevent producers from only certifying the best plantations and
not more controversial ones?
An organization with more than one plantation can only be certified if:
it is a member of the RSPO, and
it presents a robust, time-bound plan to certify all of its remaining units at the time of their first
certification audit, and
there are no significant land conflicts or labor disputes that are not being resolved through an
agreed process, and
there have been no replacements of primary forests or other high-conservation value areas since
November 2005, and
there is no evidence of non-compliance with the law in any of the non-certified holdings.
Q: I read in a press report that a particular producer is a member of the RSPO but that one of its
plantations is not fully sustainable. How is that possible?
Membership of the RSPO demonstrates that a company intends to become sustainable over the
coming years. It does not yet mean that (all of) its plantations have already achieved that goal.
For assurances about sustainably operating plantations, the thing to look for is RSPO-certification. Only
RSPO-certified plantations have been established to comply with RSPO’s sustainability criteria.
Some palm oil producing companies have signed on as members of the RSPO but did not yet get their
plantations modified, audited and/or certified. As members they have pledged to do so, but it is a
thorough and time-consuming process. Thus, RSPO membership in itself does not mean that a
company's plantations operate sustainably and produce sustainable palm oil today.
During the transition to large-scale sustainable palm oil production, some RSPO producer members
may at some point want to certify some of their plantations while others are not yet fully sustainable.
This may happen, for example, when a responsible company recently acquired plantations from a
company that was highly unsustainable. In principle, this is change for the good.
RSPO rules in such situations are strict (although some might want to go even further): when even one
plantation of a company is to be certified, the company must have robust plans to also have all of its
other plantations certified within a few years.
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It is important to also bear in mind that a company’s RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil can ONLY
come from plantations that are indeed certified!
Q: Will companies be able to produce only part of their palm oil on RSPO-certified plantations?
For a limited time, they can: a company does not have to certify all of its plantations at once. When
the first plantation is certified, however, robust plans to certify all of its remaining plantations within a
few years must be present. Do note, however, that only oil from the certified plantations can be sold
as RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil!
Q: How does the RSPO prevent small farmers from being pushed out of the trade?
To have an oil mill and its suppliers certified, a palm oil producer must show a plan that ensures that
all smallholders who supply fruit bunches to the mill meet RSPO standards within 3 years. The RSPO
Smallholder task force has developed specific RSPO standards for smallholders whose plantations are
associated with mills.
Dedicated standards for independent smallholder groups are currently being developed, just as
procedures and ways to help independent smallholders pay for audits by certifying bodies.
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adaptations for National Interpretations which are approved by the RSPO). Criteria and Principles
involve good agricultural practices, fair treatment of workers and communities, proper acquisition of
land and care for the environment and biodiversity.
Q: How is the delivery of palm oil through the entire supply chain verified?
The RSPO has set up four supply chain certification systems to verify the integrity of trade in RSPO-
certified sustainable palm oil. These systems ensure that all parties in the supply chain comply with
requirements and that claims of end-users are accurate.
Q: How are supply chain requirements for sustainable palm oil verified?
Processors or users of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil can claim the use or support of sustainable
palm oil when they adhere to the requirements of the relevant RSPO supply chain system. Each of the
four supply chain systems carries its own requirements. Companies selling physical RSPO-certified
palm oil to other parties in the supply chain must enter their transactions in the RSPO Supply Chain
database hosted by UTZ Certified. The database enables the tracing of volumes of certified palm oil
and facilitates input/output calculations by the RSPO.
Q: Initially, an ‘interim approach’ is used for the certification of the supply chain. Why is that and how
does it work?
In order to speed up the introduction of sustainable palm oil on the market, the RSPO has adopted an
interim procedure to verify the supply chain. For a limited time, parties in the supply chain, such as
shippers and processors, may provide self-assessments on their compliance with the requirements.
After that initial period, third-party certification bodies will have to verify such compliance. For more
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information, please see the RSPO Supply Chain Certification Systems document that is available at
RSPO’s website under ‘Key documents’.
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5 Markets and claims
Q: How can consumers know whether companies use sustainable palm oil?
Since in most products palm oil is just one small ingredient, producers may opt to not use packaging to
claim the use of sustainable palm oil. Instead, they may use websites or brochures to inform
customers about the level of their involvement with sustainable palm oil.
The RSPO has formulated specific Guidelines on Communication & Claims for on-pack communication,
product communication and corporate communication. These guidelines are available through RSPO’s
online Market center (www.rspo.eu/market).
Q: How can consumers know whether a product contains actual RSPO-certified palm oil?
Only if palm oil in a product can be verifiably traced back to RSPO-certified mills and plantations by
keeping it segregated throughout the supply chain, producers may say that their product ‘contains
RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil’.
Q: What does it mean if I buy a product that says it ‘advances’ the production of RSPO-certified
sustainable palm oil? Does such a product contain sustainable palm oil or not?
If a product carries such a claim, it means that enough palm oil needed to make the product was
produced sustainably; however, the sustainable oil itself may have ended up in a product not carrying
a claim. Put otherwise: purchase of this product did indeed advance the production of sustainable
palm oil, but for practical or economical reasons, the sustainable oil itself may have ended up
elsewhere.
While this may sound strange at first, using such a system often makes perfect practical, economical
and sustainable sense.
Palm oil has a long and complex supply chain, which spans multiple traders, storage tanks, pipelines
and oil tankers across several continents. Batches of oil are added together all the time. In some cases
it would be too difficult, or too costly, to keep sustainable oil fully segregated throughout that long
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chain. Without another option, some product manufacturers might decide to forgo sustainable palm
oil.
To enable all companies to join, the RSPO created certification systems that make it possible to buy a
particular batch of sustainable palm oil at the end of the chain even though the sustainable oil itself
was mixed in with conventional oil earlier in the chain. The certification systems ensure that every
tonne of sustainably produced palm oil is accounted for.
Q: How does certification work when sustainable palm oil is not kept segregated throughout the supply
chain?
The RSPO has created two certification systems that make it possible to pay for a particular volume of
sustainably produced palm oil at the end of the long supply chain even if the sustainable oil itself was
mixed in with conventional oil in tankers or storage tanks earlier in the chain.
One system (‘Mass Balance’) involves registering carefully where, when and how much sustainable oil
merges into the conventional stream. From there on, all trades involving (some) sustainable palm oil
are registered in UTZ Certified’s online Traceability System. A matching amount of palm oil can then be
purchased at the end of the chain, even though by then the oil itself contains a mix of sustainable and
conventional oil. For more information on the Mass Balance system, please visit www.utzcertified.org.
The second system (‘Book & Claim’), operated by GreenPalm, uses a similar approach by enabling
producers and end-users to trade certificates. RSPO-certified producers can register their volume of
sustainable palm oil on GreenPalm’s website. They are issued one certificate for every tonne of
sustainable oil they produced. Product manufacturers or retailers can then go online and purchase
these certificates. In effect, they offset their use of conventional palm products by paying producers
for equivalent amounts that are produced sustainably. The system does not add costs to the physical
supply chain, so almost the entire price premium goes to producers. For more information about the
Book & Claim system, please visit www.greenpalm.org.
In both these two systems, volumes of oil are carefully matched between producers and buyers.
However, manufacturers or retailers cannot claim their products ‘contain’ sustainable palm oil, since
sustainable oil was mixed with conventional oil earlier on. Instead, they may say their products have
‘advanced’ the production of sustainable palm oil.
Q: So what does it mean if a product claims to ‘contain’ RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil?
A manufacturer can only make such a claim if the palm oil used in the product came from a certified
plantation and was kept ‘segregated’ from conventional oil throughout the supply chain. All
segregated batches of sustainable palm oil are registered and followed using a global database
maintained by UZT Certified. Through their database, consumer good manufacturers can trace
segregated oil all the way back to one or more RSPO-certified plantation(s). For more information
about Utz Certified, please visit their website at www.utzcertified.org.
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Q: What if only half of the palm oil in a product was produced sustainably?
If 95% or more of the palm oil used was RSPO-certified, companies may claim a product contains only
sustainable palm oil. If the percentage is less, then it has to be specified. For example, if half of the
palm oil in a product was RSPO-certified, then a claim on the packaging should be accompanied by the
words ‘(equivalent to 50% of the palm oil utilized)’.
Q: The volume of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil covers less than 10 percent of the world palm oil
market. Will the RSPO really be able to make palm oil production more sustainable?
The number of certified plantations is growing, and so are sales of sustainable palm oil. Current
members of the RSPO together represent almost half of the world’s volume of palm oil, and
membership is growing as well. The Roundtable believes that ultimately the world’s palm oil can be
produced in a sustainable way.
Q: Will there be demand for sustainable palm oil in China and India?
China and India are among the world's biggest importers of palm oil. At the same time, they export
palm oil-containing products to Europe. Such international trade flows will likely increase demand for
sustainable palm oil in China and India. One large China-based importer of palm oil is already a
member of the RSPO. We cannot be sure, but the Roundtable ultimately aims to have all the world’s
palm oil produced in a sustainable way.
Q: Can palm oil production become and remain sustainable if and when total supply and demand
continue to grow?
Palm oil production does not have to displace primary forest or other high conservation value areas. In
palm oil producing countries, large areas currently lie fallow. What’s more, yields per hectare can be
increased significantly by applying agricultural practices recommended by the RSPO.
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Q: Will sustainable palm oil be more expensive?
Generally speaking, markets will determine the price of sustainable palm oil. A price premium on
sustainable oil can be expected when demand exceeds supply. Also, palm oil plantations, mills and/or
traders will likely try to recover expenses such as those for auditing and certification, segregation,
administration and RSPO membership.
Small fees are added by organizations running the system, including the RSPO. In the end, sustainable
palm oil will probably be a bit more expensive than conventional palm oil. Paying a little price
premium is an effective way for consumers to encourage large plantations and smallholders to
produce palm oil sustainably.
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