05/11/2012 (Jakarta Post) - Several of the approximately 700 delegates from more than 35 countries attending the 10th annual Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) conference in Singapore last week wondered whether the green consumer campaign for certified sustainable palm oil had really been market driven or was simply a veiled trade barrier to the marketing of that vegetable oil.

The blunt fact is that five years after RSPO implemented its principles and criteria for socially, environmentally and economically sustainable palm oil (CSPO), only 7.7 million tons or 15 percent of global output has been certified, and around 48 percent of this total was derived from Indonesia, the world’s largest producer.

Yet more disappointing was that only about 55 percent of this volume was taken up by the market, and producers barely received a premium price.

But judging from the elaborate principles and criteria of sustainability promoted and assessed by RSPO for its certification process — covering elements such as transparency, legal and regulatory compliance, best production practices, environmental responsibility and commitments to local community development and land rights — the achievements have not been totally fruitless.

The principles and criteria assessed for RSPO green certification are precisely the best practices of agricultural development the government itself has promoted under its Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) scheme since last year.

As the world’s largest palm oil producer with an annual capacity of 25 million tons — which is expected to double to 50 million tons in 2020 — Indonesia can no longer sit back, assured that its biggest markets — China, India, Pakistan and Africa — which take up more than 85 percent of its output, are not yet bothered about certified products.

The green consumer campaign for socially, environmentally and economically sustainable farm commodities has escalated around the world and covered other farm commodities such as soybean and sugar cane. Forest-wood certification even started as early as 1993 under the principles developed by the Bonn-based Forest Stewardship Council.

Soybean growers and processors in North and South America and Australia, grouped in the Roundtable on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS), and sugarcane growers and processors under their Bonsucro organization, began similar certification programs last year.

RTRS and Bonsucro leaders told RSPO delegates in Singapore that the principles and criteria used for their certification programs are by and large similar to those implemented by RSPO to promote best agricultural practices.

These campaigns will transform the markets to make sustainability the norm in farm commodities.

True, the market uptake for certified farm commodities is now still small, as the demand comes mostly from developed countries, and the premium prices gained by certified commodities are still rather meaningless.

But, as the business models showcased by RSPO-certified growers at the conference indicate, premium prices should not be the primary objective in having production processes certified.

Certified palm oil companies said their best agricultural and corporate governance practices immediately generated such benefits as higher efficiency, higher productivity, harmonious labor relations, good relations with local communities, better pest management and certainly a better corporate image.