30/01/2014 (Jakarta Globe) - The Rountable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a not-for-profit association that promotes sustainable palm oil products, hopes to continue drawing more members from Indonesia as well as getting more products certified by the group.

Desi Kusumadewi, RSPO Indonesia director, says that palm oil growers in Southeast Asia’s largest economy produce the biggest proportion (46.8 percent) of around 9.5 million tons of RSPO certified palm oil, followed by Malaysia (45.3 percent) and Papua New Guinea (5.3 percent).

According to RSPO’s website, there are 54 Indonesian palm oil growers that are RSPO members. Some of the big members include Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, a unit of Sinar Mas Group; Sawit Sumbermas Sarana, a unit of palm giant Citra Borneo; and Salim Ivomas Pratama, part of the Salim Group.

“Major groups like Sinar Mas and Wilmar have joined our association and we look forward to welcoming more,” she said in a visit to BeritaSatu Media Holdings headquarters in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“There is the ISPO that will be mandatory by the end of 2014. We hope to see that those Indonesian companies certified by ISPO also seek RSPO recognition if they seek overseas markets.”

ISPO refers to the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil System, or a national certification policy introduced by the Indonesian government in 2011 to make palm oil production sustainable and comply with the nation’s laws and regulations.

According to a regulation from the Ministry of Agriculture, implementation of ISPO is mandatory and all palm oil planters and crude palm oil producers must comply by December 2014.

While Indonesian palm oil growers currently make up the biggest proportion in RSPO certified palm oil in the world, there remains many more that have not been approached by the association, such as Astra Agro Lestari, a unit of Astra International.

“Astra Agro Lestari is still not a member. I am still puzzled why they won’t join us,” said Bungaran Saragih, a former Indonesian agriculture minister who was appointed as an RSPO advisor.

Astra Agro is the biggest listed palm oil producer by market value.

Bungaran and Desi referred to data that in 2012, of the 28 million tons of crude palm oil production in Indonesia, only 15 percent was certified by RSPO.

“We also want to promote the RSPO trademark,” said Desi. He adds that the association wants producers to have their products stamped by RSPO, which means that the palm oil has been certified to have undergone sustainable business practices.

“We want the idea of sustainable business to attract consumers’ attention. They have a very strong role in the downstream part. One example is the Body Shop that uses RSPO stamps on their products,” said Desi.

The Body Shop International is a global retail chain that sells body creams, bath and shower products, fragrances and skin care products.