Effective Date for Compliance: 2024 RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) and RSPO Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard

Ahead of the effective date of the 2024 RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) and the 2024 RSPO Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard for compliance and certification, RSPO would like to provide some important updates to all RSPO Members.

Following adoption of the 2024 RSPO P&C and the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard by the 21st RSPO General Assembly on 13 November 2024, the revised RSPO Standards shall become effective 12 months after adoption. All existing and potential RSPO P&C and ISH Standard certificate holders shall refer to the 2024 RSPO Standards for compliance and certification for all RSPO audits where the opening meeting occurs on or after 13 November 2025. 

The RSPO Certification Systems for the Principles and Criteria and RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard are currently undergoing revision under the supervision of the RSPO Standard Standing Committee (SSC) and the RSPO Assurance Standing Committee (ASC). Until the revised 2025 Certification Systems document is endorsed and becomes effective for implementation, all RSPO audits conducted after 13 November 2025 shall be governed by the current 2020 RSPO Certification Systems for the Principles and Criteria and RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard. 

Further updates on the expected implementation timeline of the revised 2025 RSPO Certification Systems shall be published as the document is finalised and approaches endorsement. 

Translated versions of 2024 RSPO P&C:

The translated text of the 2024 RSPO P&C (Version 4-0) as adopted by the General Assembly has already been published in Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, French and Spanish here, and in the same languages for the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard (IS_V2-0) here.  

Publication Timeline for Key Documents

Ahead of 13 November 2025, RSPO will be publishing key documents to support compliance and certification to the revised 2024 Standards, based on the following schedule:

By 31 October 2025: 

• The official 2024 RSPO P&C (Version 4-1) and 2024 RSPO ISH Standard (IS_V2-1) documents shall be published and made available here. Translations of the official documents shall be published once finalised.
• The generic Auditors’ Checklist for the 2024 RSPO P&C (Version 4-1) and the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard (IS_V2-1) shall be published as a guidance for accredited Certification Bodies (CBs) and their auditors to assess compliance and provide certification. 
• The Universal Audit Report (UAR) templates for the 2024 RSPO P&C (Version 4-1) and the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard (IS_V2-1) shall be published for mandatory usage by accredited Certification Bodies (CBs) and their auditors.
• A Universal Pre-Audit Requirements (UPAR) template shall be published for recommended use by P&C and ISH Standard certificate holders, accredited Certification Bodies (CBs) and their auditors, ahead of the revised 2025 RSPO Certification Systems for the Principles and Criteria and RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard being endorsed and becoming effective. 

National Interpretations of 2024 RSPO P&C and ISH Standard:

National Interpretations (NIs) of the 2024 RSPO P&C and the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard shall be published upon approval by the RSPO SSC and endorsement by the RSPO Board of Governors (BoG). 

Individual announcements for all the documents listed above shall be made as the documents are published in the Resources section of the RSPO website. 

Micro-site for 2024 Standards

A micro-site for the 2024 RSPO P&C and the 2024 RSPO ISH Standard is also scheduled to be launched on the RSPO website, to provide an interactive and functional option for RSPO Members to navigate the revised 2024 Standards. A separate announcement will be made once the micro-site is published. 

Further information:

Questions on the revised 2024 Standards: [email protected] 

Questions on compliance/ certification against the revised 2024 Standards: [email protected]