Certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), Malaysia

A post of one of the day while I was gathering some basis information of certified palm oil products in Malaysia.

About more than 5 years ago, Certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) was set up for the similar purpose like other certification schemes was set up to reduce the impact of the over human populated against the current resources such as Marine Stewardship Council and Forest Stewardship Council. As stated in the WWF website, 

"Certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), which is produced according to the standards established by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the oil's production"

Responsible Sustainable Palm Oil [RSPO] is one of the international certifications to promote certified palm oil.  RSPO Certification is a seal of approval that the palm oil used in the product is indeed so produced and volumes are traceable. In line with other certification objectives, supporting the market of certified palm oil is part of the initiative to slow down deforestation and  as well as put a cap on climate change.

Similar to FSC chain of custody (CoC) certification, RSPO were established in the way that certified sustainable palm oil (RSPO Oil) is traceable through the supply chain by certification of each facility along the supply chain that processes or uses the certified oil. These traceability are being monitor under 3 elements of RSPO certification scheme; standard, accreditation and process. The standard is to sets out the requirements which must be met and against which certification assessments are made. 

The RSPO Standard is the RSPO Principles and Criteria For Sustainable Palm Oil Production or P&C; accreditations is to ensure that the organizations which undertake certification assessment – the Certification Bodies - are competent to undertake credible, consistent audits and the process for establishing whether or not a set of requirements (i.e. the standard) has been met and is carried out by a accredited Certification Body.

In Malaysia, Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) saw a 70% surge in demand in September 2011, setting off a round of cheering in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Malaysia is assessing the feasibility of implementing its own sustainable palm oil certification as part to raise the competiveness of the country’s palm oil and related downstream products globally. At present, the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) [certification] is under consideration.

There was a significant improvement from 48% a year ago. In the last two years, the demand for CSPO had increased from 25.3% in 2009 to 46.2% last year. In 2011, Palm Plantations only take up just over 14% of the total land area in Malaysia.