JAKARTA — As of 2022 a total of 918 palm oil companies had managed to get the certification of Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO), which is a requirement for Indonesia’s palm oil industrial players to show their sustainability.
Tofan Mahdi, the head of communication division at the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) said that 63% or 576 companies of the certified 918 companies are members of GAPKI, 34% are non-members of GAPKI, while the other 3% are the oil palm smallholders.
He said that GAPKI will keep maintaining its commitment to the certification of ISPO. “Actually, the 576 member companies that are already certified account for 80% of total GAPKI members. The other 20% member companies could not yet get the ISPO certification because of the outbreak of Covid-19. The pandemic hindered the process of field audit as a requirement to get the ISPO certification,” he said during a public discussion on sustainable palm oil held by Infosawit in Jakarta on Tuesday, 31 January 2023.
Tofan asserted that GAPKI is committed to ensuring that all or 100% of its member companies should be certified with ISPO. “Now, 80% of GAPKI Members have managed to get the ISPO certification. We’re optimistic that this year 100% of GAPKI member companies will be certified with ISPO,” he said.
According to him, the ISPO certification will become a standard for palm oil companies to realize their sustainability. The sustainability is a must for all of the palm oil industry players, including the smallholders. “Even the government has set the target for the smallholders that in 2025 they will be all certified with ISPO,” he said.
Tofan said that 75% of Indonesia’s palm oil products are exported. That is one reason why the sustainability has become the primary concern of the palm oil companies. “The sustainability is a must for all players of palm oil industry. By getting the ISPO as the mandatory certification of sustainability set by the government, the producers will find it easier to enter the global market,” he said.
But Tofan underlined the more important issue besides the issue of global market. “Actually, our aim for sustainability is not merely for entering the markets in Europe or North America. It’s not so. But we do it for the sake of our children and grandchildren. And it even becomes more important if we consider that the future of our palm oil industries is in the hands of smallholders, not big companies,” he said. (*)
Source: KONTAN.CO.ID