MARKET DEVELOPMENT
06-06-2005
Environment-Friendly Palm Oil Code Out In Nov
Wednesday June 1, 2005, 5:39 pm KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--The palm oilindustry plans to unveil in November a set of standards on environmentallyfriendly and socially responsible production practices, marking a majorstep forward in the fledgling cooperation between the industry andnon-governmental organizations.Set up in mid-2004, the Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil, or RSPO, asthe multiparty association is better known, had as its initial task theformulation of a credible definition of sustainable palm oil.Now, about a year later, the grouping of sides that have long been at oddsover environmental and rights issues is close to making a breakthrough."Our main focus so far has been to develop a set of criteria on whatsustainable palm oil entails. We set up a working group in October andwe've had two draft documents that have come out for public consultation,"the RSPO's newly appointed secretary-general Andrew Ng said in aninterview."The goal is to have the (final) criteria document launched at our 3rdRoundtable meeting in November."That meeting is scheduled for Nov. 22-23 in Singapore, a key regionalfinancial center neighboring two of the world's largest palm oil producers- Malaysia, where the Rasp's secretariat is based, and Indonesia.The criteria on sustainable palm oil will cover various aspects of palmoil production, including legal, economic, technical, environmental andsocial aspects.Admittedly, some aspects are more complicated, if not contentious, thanothers, which is why defining sustainable palm oil has been a longprocess, Nag said.Issues like optimizing productivity, zero-burning, integrated pestmanagement and waste management are among the easier aspects, sincegenerally, they are already being practiced in the industry."But then, there are some really difficult issues like biodiversity -things that the plantations industry has not done before and that takestime to be explained," Ng said."So, pulling people together and narrowing the gap is part of the wholelearning process that everyone is going through."Just as in the development of any multilateral agreement, the wordings tobe used in the RSPO's criteria document can also be the subject ofopposing views that take time to be resolved, Ng added.
