National Interpretations
RSPO encourages all palm oil producing countries to comply with the general 2024 RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) and 2024 RSPO Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard, but allows for members in a specific country to initiate a National Interpretation (NI) process that contextualises the 2024 RSPO P&C and ISH Standard at a national level. Until an NI has been developed for a specific country and endorsed by the RSPO Board of Governors (BoG), the applicable RSPO Standard in that country is the general 2024 RSPO P&C and/or the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard.
The NI process shall be led and managed by RSPO Members. An NI process may be initiated through a formal request addressed to the RSPO Secretariat, and written approval from RSPO is required to proceed. A NI process must be:
- Initiated within 24 months of the formal adoption of the general 2024 RSPO P&C and the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard (before 13 November 2026)
- Developed within 36 months of the formal adoption of the general 2024 RSPO P&C and the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard (before 13 November 2027)
- RSPO recommends that NI processes (especially for countries with existing NIs of the 2018 RSPO P&C and/or the 2019 RSPO ISH Standard) complete development within 12 months of the formal adoption of the general 2024 RSPO P&C and the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard (before 13 November 2025)
As stated in Section 9 of the RSPO Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Standard Setting, NIs must be fully consistent with the general RSPO Standards. RSPO certificate holders must be fully compliant with the new version of an NI within 12 months of the NI being endorsed by the BoG.
Simplified step-by-step process for National Interpretations
| Phase | Action |
| NI Task Force (NI TF) Formation | The member(s) chooses to begin the NI process, and send a formal request to initiate the NI process for a country to RSPO ([email protected]). Formal acknowledgement of the request to initiate the NI shall be required. |
| The initiating member(s) shall send a request to RSPO ([email protected]) to post an announcement/call for expression of interest (EOI) in joining the NI TF on the RSPO website.
The EOI shall be valid for at least 20 calendar days, with a recommendation of 30 calendar days. |
|
| The initiating member(s) shall form the NI TF with balanced representation and membership requirements, and request written approval by the RSPO to proceed with the NI TF by sending an email to the RSPO Secretariat ([email protected]).
Note: If the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the NI TF does not meet all the requirements stated in the RSPO SOP (especially in terms of balanced representation), endorsement from the RSPO Standards Standing Committee (SSC) shall be required. |
|
| Developing the NI | The NI TF shall develop the draft NI according to the process and content requirements stated in the RSPO SOP, and submit the draft NI to RSPO prior to starting the public consultation process. |
| RSPO shall provide written approval or comments for the draft and the NI TF shall revise the draft NI accordingly. | |
| Public Consultation | The NI TF shall inform RSPO of an intended public consultation, at least 30 days before the public consultation period commences and submit all the draft NI documents for comments. Draft NI documents shall be submitted in English and/or appropriate national languages. |
| RSPO shall upload the draft NI documents on the RSPO website and the NI TF shall upload the draft NI documents on a country-based website. | |
| The public consultation shall be carried out for at least 60 calendar days. | |
| The NI TF shall document all comments and make amendments accordingly. | |
| Revising the NI | The NI TF shall submit the draft NI (with public consultation comments incorporated) and process report to RSPO, which shall review, and issue corrective action requests (if any) and the NI TF shall make those corrections accordingly. |
| RSPO shall submit the revised and completed NI documents to the RSPO Standards Standing Committee (SSC) for approval, or to issue corrective action requests (if any). | |
| Endorsement | Upon approval of the NI documents, the SSC shall forward the documents to the RSPO BoG for endorsement. |
| The RSPO BoG shall review the NI documents for potential endorsement. | |
| Publication | Upon endorsement, the NI TF shall proceed with the publication of the NI documents. The finalised copy shall be submitted to RSPO to be uploaded on the RSPO website. |
| NI Process completed | |
National Interpretations Templates and Guidance
RSPO Standard Operating Procedure for Standard Setting and Review 2020 (Revised)
2024 RSPO Standards NI TF ToR Template
2024 RSPO P&C NI Editing Template (Draft) [Available upon request]
2024 RSPO ISH NI Editing Template (Draft) [Available upon request]
RSPO NI Process Report Template
RSPO NI Summary Slide Template
(Guidance) NI Reference Notes* [Available upon request]
* To assist members, to support NI TFs, and to optimise the development timeline for all National Interpretations, the RSPO Secretariat shall develop NI Reference Notes summarising and indicating changes agreed upon and made in previous NIs of the 2018 RSPO P&C or the 2019 RSPO ISH Standard. Development of the NI Reference Notes shall be prioritised for countries that have already initiated a NI process for the 2024 RSPO Standards.
List of initiated National Interpretations of the 2024 RSPO P&C and 2024 RSPO ISH Standards
| No | Country | Status | Secretariat Focal Points | Public Consultation Announcement |
| 1 | Indonesia (P&C) | Endorsed | [email protected] | Link |
| 2 | Indonesia (ISH) | Endorsed | [email protected] | Link |
| 3 | India (ISH) | Endorsed | [email protected] | Link |
| 4 | Malaysia (P&C) | Endorsed | [email protected] | Link |
| 5 | Malaysia (ISH) | Started | [email protected] | N/A |
| 6 | Papua New Guinea and Solomon Island (P&C) | Public Consultation | [email protected] | Link |
| 7 | Thailand (P&C and ISH) | Ongoing | [email protected] | Link |
| 8 | Ghana (P&C and ISH) | Started | [email protected] | N/A |
| 9 | Nigeria (P&C and ISH) | Started | [email protected] | N/A |
| 10 | Côte d’Ivoire (P&C and ISH) | Started | [email protected] | N/A |
| 11 | Guatemala (P&C) | Started | [email protected] | N/A |
| 12 | Colombia (P&C) | Started | [email protected] | N/A |
| 13 | Mexico (P&C and ISH) | Started | [email protected] | N/A |
| 14 | Honduras (P&C and ISH) | Started | [email protected] | N/A |
*This table is to be updated regularly.
