Revised RSPO Supply Chain Certification Standard and Systems Documents endorsed

On 1 February 2020 the revised RSPO Supply Chain Certification Standard (Reference number: RSPO-STD-T05-001 V2 ENG), Supply Chain requirements for mills (Principle and Criteria 2018) and RSPO Supply Chain Certification Systems (Reference number: RSPO-PRO-T05-001 V2 ENG) were endorsed by the RSPO Board of Governors. 

The revised documents are the result of an extensive review, integrating and updating the practices and procedures related to Supply Chain Certification (SCC) by the Supply Chain Certification Task Force since April 2019 (further information here).

The revised RSPO SCC Standard and Systems documents enhance the assurance of the chain of custody of RSPO certified materials along the supply chain.

 KEY CHANGES IN THE SCC STANDARD 2020 

• The site receiving RSPO certified oil palm products shall ensure that the products are verified as being RSPO certified on a monthly basis (checking the validity of the Supply Chain Certification of the suppliers, or the licence for traders and distributors via RSPO’s website), or through the RSPO IT Platform (PalmTrace) by confirmation of (shipping) announcements.
• For members involved in primary procurement (i.e. purchasing directly from a mill) the site shall publish and update on a six monthly basis the third-party supplying mills lists (certified and non-certified) with relevant information of the mills, such as name, GPS coordinates, parent company, country, and the identity of the mill in the Universal Mill List (UML ID) if applicable.
• The registration of transactions in the RSPO IT Platform (PalmTrace) by the supply chain actors mentioned in 5.7.1 shall be recorded within 3 months time.

 IMPORTANT CLARIFICATIONS TO STRENGTHEN THE SCC STANDARD 

• Distributors and traders not complying with the definitions in Section 4 need to hold Supply Chain Certification.
• The RSPO certificate is valid for five (5) years and provides a means to request a licence in RSPO’s IT trading platform (PalmTrace) on an annual basis, upon successful completion of an audit. The certificate is only valid if the licence is active in RSPO’s IT platform (PalmTrace).

UPDATE FOR MILL MEMBERS

• In the revised Supply Chain Certification Standard, Module D (CPO Mills: Identity Preserved) and Module E (CPO Mills: Mass Balance) have been extracted and included  as part of Principle 3 of RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) 2018.

UPDATE FOR MULTI-SITE & GROUP MEMBERS 

• Module F (Multi-site Certification) and Module G (Supply Chain Group Certification) have been included as annexes.

UPDATE FOR FOOD SERVICE AND OLEOCHEMICAL INDUSTRIES

• Additionally, the SCC Standard 2020 has included the RSPO Rules for Oleochemicals and its Derivatives, and the Guidance Document for RSPO Supply Chain Certification of Food Service Company / Companies as annexes.

KEY CHANGES IN THE FOR THE SCC SYSTEMS 2020 DOCUMENT,

• The audit team members shall be of lead auditor status, demonstrating three (3) years field working experience and completion of internationally recognised ISO 9001 lead auditor, the RSPO-endorsed Supply Chain Lead Auditors course, and undergo a refresher course every three (3) years among other requisites. The Lead Auditor qualification process also requires the trainee Lead Auditor to participate in three different types of RSPO SC audits.
• The Certification Body (CB) shall register all of its approved Lead Auditors (including freelance) with the Accreditation Body (AB), including details of qualifications and competencies and shall evaluate the performance of each Lead Auditor in witness assessments at least once every three (3) years.
• The contractual documents shall specify the right of CB and AB representatives to access the certificate holders’ premises, as well as documents and records deemed necessary by the CB or its AB; the right of the CB to conduct an unannounced audit (due to a complaint); and the right of the AB to conduct a witness assessment, compliance assessment, unannounced assessment, or any other special short notice assessment.

Additionally, the SCC Systems 2020 has included the auditing requirements for Food Service Companies under Group Certification and Multisite:

• The audit shall include on-site audit of the Group Manager/Central Office and all purchasing facilities (except when all the purchases are controlled through strict protocol centrally by the Central Office) during initial certification, surveillance audits, and recertification.
• The sample audit formula shall be used to carry out remote audit of the group members /participating sites during the site visit to the Group Manager/Central Office during the surveillance audits. The CB shall determine which group members/participating sites documentation to be reviewed during the remote audit every year.

The RSPO SCC Standards 2020 and RSPO SCC Systems 2020 documents are effective immediately with twelve month transition period. All audits by 1 February 2021 onwards shall be carried out against these standards.

For further information or clarifications regarding these revised documents please contact: [email protected] and/or [email protected]