10/02/2012 (The Star) - Certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) has grown to 11% of global crude palm oil production, with Malaysia leading the pack.

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) secretary-general Darrel Webber said the growth was significant as CSPO only entered the market in 2008.

He said Malaysia was the world's largest CSPO producer, contributing 48%. Other CSPO producers are Indonesia (40%), Papua New Guinea, South America and West Africa.

According to figures released in December, total CSPO volume was about 5.6 million tonnes and the total CSPO production area was more than 1.12 million ha.

Something to cherish: Linggi (right) presenting a souvenir to Webber after the Keresa
media briefing.

RSPO has certified 29 grower companies, 135 mills and 131 supply chains.

“We now have CSPO from Brazil and Colombia. Our new members include from Vietnam, Cambodia and Latin America,” said Webber during a media briefing organised by Keresa Plantations Sdn Bhd, the first Sarawak-based company to have its plantation and palm oil mill certified by RSPO.

Keresa's oil palm estate in Bintulu Division covers more than 6,000ha. The company produced over 134,600 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) last year, registering a yield of 25.2 tonnes per ha per year.

This compares favourably with the average national yield of 19 tonnes.

More Malaysian plantation companies were expected to produce CSPO, Webber said, adding that global production of CSPO was promising as shown by the big increase in RSPO membership.

“Last month, we (RSPO) approved 60 new members. There are now more than 750 members from 50 countries,” he added.

He said RSPO membership comprised seven key stakeholders: oil palm growers, processors and traders, banks and investors, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers,s ocial and development as well as environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The latest figures show that oil palm growers make up 17.2% of RSPO membership; processors and traders 36.3%; and consumer goods manufacturers 33.7%.

Webber said it was a wrong perception that oil palm growers were under-represented in RSPO as seats in project working groups were fairly allocated to all sectors to ensure fair representation.

On Indonesia which has come up with its own palm oil certification scheme, Webber said the move would not erode the influence of RSPO as its (RSPO) credibility lay on its scheme that involved all the stakeholders in the industry.

“RSPO's principles and criteria standards are unique because they was created through consensus with all the stakeholder groups that represent some the biggest names in the palm oil sector directly or indirectly.

“We commend the efforts and achievements made by Malaysian companies under the RSPO's international certification standard,” said Webber.

He said Keresa was a model on how Sarawak should transform its cultivation of oil palm to sustainable standards in order to remain ahead of global trends and competition concurrently with responsible and conscientious practices.

Keresa chairman Tan Sri Leonard Linggi Jugah hoped that with CSPO, the company could gain a wider market.

On allegations by Western NGOs that oil palm cultivation in Sarawak had endangered the survival of orang utans, Linggi said that was never an issue as the allegations were baseless.