MSPO to undertake slew of initiatives to boslter nation's palm oil industry
13/02/2025 (New Straits Times), Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) has outlined a series of initiatives to bolster the sustainability and global competitiveness of the nation's palm oil industry.
The agency plans to collaborate with fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies to boost the visibility of the MSPO certificate and more effectively engage industry stakeholders.
"We are also enhancing our international collaboration model, which will be announced more in June," MSPO chief executive officer Hafizin Tajudin said at a briefing here today.
Hafizin added that increasing palm oil production must go hand in hand with sustainable practices.
"We have to increase production without deforesting more land. This approach is not only a focus for the government but also for MSPO. We need a well supported replanting mechanism with good agricultural practices," he said.
In a further push towards industry-wide sustainability, MSPO had rolled out its upgraded certification standard, MSPO 2.0 on Jan 1 this year.
"For MSPO 2.0, we are aiming for at least 70 to 80 per cent of the industry players to obtain our certificate this year," Hafizin explained.
He acknowledged that the enhanced MSPO standard might bring challenges to smallholders, but expressed confidence that the RM50 million aid from 2025 Budget will help smallholders meet the new requirements.
Additionally, MSPO has committed to supporting good labour practices in line with MSPO 2.0 guidelines.
With these initiatives, MSPO seeks to drive significant improvements in sustainability and transparency across the palm oil supply chain while ensuring that economic growth is achieved without compromising environmental integrity.