SUBANG JAYA: The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) will release the third revision of its certification upon completion of a review with stakeholders from next month, said chief executive officer Datuk Darrel Webber.
Speaking to reporters here yesterday, he said the new certification, expected to be launched by November 2018, would include new elements such as labour rights and sustainability.
“Our next standard should be measureable, and also be smallholders-friendly to attract more of them to join the scheme.We will also be looking into labour rights,” he said on the sidelines of a two-day RSPO Roadshow 2017 yesterday.
Also present was RSPO director of impact and evaluation, Oi Soo Chin. Webber said it would take up to two years to iron out the RSPO details.
“We want to minimise subjectivity in our standards, especially in the principles and criteria section.
“At the end of the day, we want RSPO standards to be more objective, and one that can be further quantified by tangible numbers,” he added.
Webber said the RSPO also planned to strengthen its jurisdictional approach, where the palm oil industry group would collaborate with state governments to have palm plantation lands certified by it.
“We have made headway with the jurisdictional approach with Sabah, Central Kalimantan and South Sumatera pledging their commitment. We have also seen Ecuador taking a positive leap towards generating more certified sustainable palm oil,” he added. — Bernama