16/07/2009 (Procurement Leaders) - Malaysian palm oil producers who have switched to environmentally-friendly production methods on demands from western businesses have criticised those same companies for buying cheaper, uncertified produce despite being the ones who demanded the change.

While the price differential between sustainable oil and oil that comes from uncertified plantations has reduced significantly, but producers say it will have to disappear entirely if the balance is to be redressed. Producers have criticised the double standards of western companies that are vocal in demanding sustainable produce but don't back their criticisms up with action.

"We [plantation firms] have complied with the strictest criteria on sustainability," Carl Bek-Nielsen, vice chairman of United Plantations, the first Malaysian company certified as a sustainable producer, told the Wall Street Journal. "The multinational companies, which also are end-users of palm oil, should not preach wine and drink water."

The problems are well illustrated by the fact that although the annual production capacity of certified palm oil producers in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea exceeded 1.57 trillion tonnes at the end of May, just 15,000 tonnes have been sold since certification began late last year.