19/07/2011 (Jakarta Post) - Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, will implement the Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification next month, which will be mandatory for all oil palm plantations in the country, an official says.

Agriculture Ministry plantation director general Gamal Nasir said in Jakarta on Monday that 12 auditors, including PT Mutu Agung Lestari, which was appointed to conduct a trial implementation, would handle the certification process at plantations.

Plantations already certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) would be prioritized, as they had been assessed under similar criteria.

“It will take between one and two months to carry out the process at the palm oil plantations,” he said.

Gamal added that other palm oil plantations would be required to apply for the certification with the ISPO office, which would be established soon.

“I’ve requested that institutions related to handling palm oil issues, such as the Environment Ministry, Forestry Ministry, Industry Ministry and Trade Ministry, become part of the ISPO committee, office and evaluation team,” he said.

When asked about the fee that the plantations would pay for the certification, Gamal declined to comment, saying the topic was still under discussion.

“I guess the certification will not be expensive any more,” he said, adding that the government would consider the possibility of offering subsidies to smallholder plantations in the certification process.

In March, the government commenced a trial implementation of the certification scheme at 20 oil palm plantations as part of its effort to require oil palm plantations to apply for ISPO certification starting in 2012.

Included in the ISPO pilot projects were plantations controlled by PT Rea Kaltim Plan, PT Ivomas Tunggal, PT Sime Indo Agro, PT Sumber Indah Perkasa, PT Gunung Sejahtera and state-owned companies such as PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) III, V, VI and XIII.

The ISPO certification covered various measures such as plantation licenses and plantation management, cultivation techniques, environmental management, surveillance and responsibilities to employees and the community.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) chairman, Fadhil Hasan, welcomed the move, saying that the government needed to prepare the executing institutions and details on how the certification could be implemented.

“Dissemination of information about concepts and mechanisms of ISPO certification among palm oil industrial players is needed,” he said, adding that revisions could be made along with the implementation.

The ISPO scheme was unveiled last year by Agriculture Minister Suswono and was considered by many as a rival to the Kuala Lumpur-based RSPO, which, according to Indonesia’s palm oil industry, was biased toward buyer countries and too expensive.