S

ome 800 delegates from 30 countries will gather at the 12th annual conference of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Kuala Lumpur, beginning on Tuesday, to discuss the market response to sustainable palm oil and the impact of RSPO-certified palm oil on consumer behavior.

RSPO secretary-general Darrel Webber said in a press release from Kuala Lumpur that the meeting would be taking place against the backdrop of some positive developments, as industries in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Belgium had all pledged to buy 100 percent certified palm oil by 2015.

This pledge would coincide with Europe leading up to enforcing a new food labelling regulation at the end of this year, when palm and other vegetable oils would appear on product packs, Webber noted.

'€œWe hope this will raise consumer awareness of the issues related to palm oil production and increase pressure on the industry to certify. The momentum is on and the precedent in Europe is reflecting in developments in other non-European markets,'€ added Webber.

The conference, themed '€œSustainability: What'€™s Next?'€ will see speeches, presentations and panel discussions from experts around the world, led by award-winning scientist, environmentalist, broadcaster and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, David Suzuki.

RSPO, a multi-stakeholder forum grouping oil palm growers, processors, importers, industrial users, green NGOs and consumer organizations from around the world, reported that the current estimated annual production capacity of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil was 11.1 million tons, approximately 18 percent of global crude palm oil.

Spread over 2.53 million hectares of certified production area, about 50 percent of the world'€™s current RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil production capacity comes from Indonesia, followed by 41 percent from Malaysia and the remainder from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Ivory Coast, Thailand, Guatemala, Ecuador, Brazil, Cambodia and Colombia.

However, Indonesia has challenged the RSPO certification scheme by introducing its own certification program in 2011, while Malaysia will follow next year with its own certification mechanism. Both countries supply more than 85 percent of the global palm oil output.

But while the RSPO certification, though voluntary in nature, is recognized by the international market as a green label, the Indonesian and Malaysian certification schemes, though legally compulsory, are not accepted by the international market as a green trademark.

The principles of sustainable management promoted and assessed by RSPO, Indonesia and Malaysia for their respective certifications are by and large similar, covering such elements as transparency, legal and regulatory compliance, best production practices, environmental responsibility and commitments to local community development, human rights and land rights.