The expectation is high among oil palm growers to get the certification of Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) as a way to improve their competitiveness at the global market, which is growingly aware on green principles. But apparently, the certification process has been slow due to a number of factors.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) Chairman Eddy Martono said that until now the certification of ISPO only covered 4.21 million hectares of Indonesia’s total oil palm plantations of 16.38 million hectares. The 4.21 million hectares consist of 3.94 million hectares owned by companies with 786 certificates and 270,809.15 hectares owned by smallholders with 79 certificates.
Eddy said that certification among smallholders should be accelerated as their plantations covered with ISPO certification are only 4.03 percent of total smallholders’ plantations. But the certification of companies’ plantations has reached 40.84 percent of total companies’ plantations, of which 91 percent are member companies of GAPKI.
According to Eddy, there are at least 6 reasons why the ISPO certification is still below expectation. The 6 reasons are certification cost, overlapping plantation areas with forest areas, no valuation of plantations due to regional governments’ unavailability of fund, slow and costly process of environmental licensing, long revision of presidential regulation (Perpres) No.44/2022 on ISPO that is expected to also cover the downstream products such as bioenergy. “But it’s been two years and the revision is not yet completed,” he told the participants of a public discussion organized recently by the Ombudsman in South Jakarta.
He said another reason is concerned with the ISPO secretariat which could not yet function well due to unclear system of funding. “The main problem is financing. The ISPO secretariat needs funding. The smallholders also need funding. We need to improve the governance of ISPO to meet the sustainability requirements at the global market,” he said.
Prayudi Syamsuri, Director of Plantation Product Processing and Marketing at the agriculture ministry’s (Kementan) plantation directorate general, has admitted the low realization of ISPO certification. “That’s why Kementan is now reviewing several issues hindering the ISPO certification,” he said.
“We do the reviewing while waiting for the finalization of revision of Perpres No.44/2020 on ISPO and its implementing regulations. Hopefully, in the next two or three months we’ll have a newly-revised Perpres on ISPO. We need to make improvement and adjustment to meet the green expectation of global market,” he said.
The ISPO Application and Acceleration Team (TP2 ISPO) Head Rismansyah Danasaputra said the stakeholders, including the smallholders, have given inputs for the revision, but the government cannot accommodate all of the inputs and proposals. “But what is certain is that the Perpres will still rule the ISPO certification as mandatory for all growers. Regarding the inputs, we have to reject some of them, such as the incentives, but we accommodate the others, such as the cost of certification for smallholders will be paid by the government. We’ll also make some simplifications on requirements, STDB (cultivation document), and plantation categories,” Rismansyah said during a public discussion on “wholistic consideration of Indonesia’s palm oil regulations” organized by sawitsetara.co recently in Jakarta.
Rismansyah is confident that with the revised Perpres and the support of all stakeholders, the target of 100% ISPO certification for all plantations can be realized during the next one or two years.
ISPO certification is seen as very important for Indonesian oil palm growers in dealing with the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR), which was scheduled to be implemented by the EU by the end of this year.
The ISPO certification is based on 7 principles for companies and 5 principles for smallholders. The 7 principles for companies are (1) compliance with prevailing regulations, (2) application of good practices of plantations, (3) conservation of environment, natural resources and biodiversity, (4) responsible to workers, (5) social responsibility and empowerment of public economy, (6) application of transparency, (7) improvement of sustainability. The 5 principles for smallholders are (1) compliance with prevailing regulations, (2) application of plantation good practices, (3) conservation of environment, natural resources and biodiversity, (4) application of transparency, (5) improvement of sustainability.
“We need the ISPO certification to meet the requirements set by EUDR. Without the certification, our oil palm growers, including the smallholders who play an important role in palm oil sector, could not export their products to EU. But along with the certification, we’ll be also intensifying positive campaigns on palm oil, especially in Europe,” the oil palm plantation fund management board’s (BPDPKS) Corporate Division Head Achmad Maulizal Sutawijaya said during the the public discussion on Indonesian palm oil regulation in Jakarta recently.
The Palm Oil Agribusiness Strategic Policy Institue (PASPI) Executive Director Tungkot Sipayung said that actually in terms of green certification, it is only the palm oil among all vegetable oils, which has the system of sustainability certification. The other vegetable oils have no such certification.
“Of the 7 vegetable oils competing at the global market, only the palm oil that has a system of sustainability certification,” Tungkot said during a public discussion about a book on the myths vs facts of palm oil at the University of Palangka Raya recently in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan.
During the occasion, Tungkot debunked the myths of palm oil regarding environment, water wasteful, cholesterol content, by presenting scientific and empirical data derived from researches. “They vilified palm oil with incorrect and unfounded data. We admit that palm oil is not yet perfect. But surely, palm oil is more perfect than its competitors, especially with its ISPO certification,” he said.
Addressing the same public discussion, the Expert Staff of the economic coordinating ministry in charge of connectivity, services and natural resources development, Musdhalifah Machmud said that the ISPO certification should stand as evidence that Indonesian oil palm plantations are free from deforestations. “We have ISPO certification that should be accepted in compliance with the EUDR,” she said.
“We need to socialize that we have such sustainable certification that should be sufficient to allow us to export palm oil products to EU. We don’t want to be accused that we’re not sustainable,” Musdhalifah concluded. Benget Besalicto ST
