JAKARTA – The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) said that the palm oil industry players are ready to meet the demand for sustainable palm oil from a number of foreign markets. The green signal from China as the largest export market of Indonesia is a good news for the palm oil industry of Indonesia.
“We’re confident that Indonesia’s CPO product has been competitive at the growingly greener market and Indonesia is the largest producer of the Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). If China demands for sustainability certificate, we can provide it through the mandatory certification of Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) that has covered a total plantation area of 5.0 million hectares, and through the voluntary certification of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for a total area of 2.4 million hectares,” GAPKI’s Deputy Secretary General Agam Fatchurrochman said in a written statement on Thursday, 02 February 2023.
China’s President Xi Jinping said during the 20th congress of China’s Communist Party in October 2022 that the green development has become an integral part of China’s national development program. “We’ll prioritize protection of ecology, conservation of natural resources and efficient use of natural resources and low carbon development,” he said.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reported that in 2021 Indonesia exported 4.7 million tons of crude palm oil CPO) to China, which was 52.2% higher than its exports to India at 3.08 million tons in the same year. There are potential non-tariff barriers that will possibly become new challenges facing Indonesian palm oil producers when exporting their palm oil products to foreign countries, including China.
Agam said that the palm oil industry players have been trying to strengthen the certification system of ISPO. It is realized by improving the principles and criteria of ISPO for upstream sector in the plantations.
But Agam said that the government has yet to finalize the standards of ISPO for downstream sector on the parts of buyers and refineries to meet the market demand. It is aimed to improve the reputation of Indonesian palm oil at the global market which has been growingly aware on the importance of sustainability practices.
During the last four years green signals have been emerging in China. The green signals are reflected by a number of initiatives, such as the establishment of the China’s Sustainable Palm Oil Alliance (CSPOA) in 2018, the issuance of sustainable palm oil consumption in 2022 by CSPOA, which also involved the China’s Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce (CFNA) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The initiatives were driven by the intention to establish a model of transformation practices towards green value chain that provides win-win solution under the coordination of CFNA. Seen from the consumers, a survey on green consumption of Chinese people in 2019 shows that 83.34% respondents support the green consumption behavior.
Concurring with Agam, Senior Policy Coordinator of the Lingkar Temu Kabupaten Lestari (LTKL), Desriko Malayu Putra, said that good governance can become a key factor in improving the reputation of Indonesian palm oil. “Currently, the needed governance should be pursued through regional and global collaborations to meet the sustainability aspects required by the certification schemes of ISPO and RSPO. The sustainability aspect should not be only fulfilled at the level of companies, but also at the level of smallholders by involving local governments, companies and other supporting institutions,” said Desriko
He also underlined the importance of inter-sector collaborations to accelerate the implementation of sustainability in the palm oil industry. (*)
Source: KONTAN.CO.ID