Certification in Latin America

The recent public consultation on “RSPO’s Management System Requirements and Guidance for Group Certification of FFB production”, held in Bogotá (Colombia), elicited a solid response with more than 40 attendees including oil palm growers, millers, and social and environmental NGOs from 6 countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, México, Brasil and Perú) attending the meeting.

The public consultation, which was organized by RSPO and facilitated by Proforest, is held in Asia, Africa and Latin America at time of writing. The on-ground meetings which will come to an end on July 6th provided the attendees with a platform to discuss “RSPO’s Management System Requirements and Guidance for Group Certification of FFB production” and facilitated the exchange of information on the local Latin American context about how to achieve smallholder certification in the part of the world.

The comments and suggestion garnered during the actual meeting, in addition to the submissions during the 60-days public consultation period, will serve to enrich the final document prior to the final endorsement by the RSPO Board of Governors.

Certification on progress in Latin America

During the same meeting, the attendees had an experience & knowledge sharing session on smallholders and group certification within the palm oil industry in Latin America.

The number of companies seeking RSPO certification in Latin America is increasing. Within the first half of 2015, RSPO has certified 7 new companies comprising 11 mills, with a production of 363,497 metric tonnes of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO).

As a result of their certification, the total volume of CSPO production has increased by more than 174%. These numbers and figures show the growing commitment of the region towards transforming markets with sustainable production on palm oil.