3rd update rspo response to the report titled “Palm-Oil Migrant Workers Tell of Abuses on Malaysian Plantations”, published by the wall street journal on 26th July 2015

In relation to the report titled “Palm-Oil Migrant Workers Tell of Abuses on Malaysian Plantations”, published by The Wall Street Journal on 26th July 2015, RSPO had asked the independent accreditation body ASI (Accreditation Services International) to undertake a compliance audit on the Certification Bodies involved, as well as an investigation audit on the FELDA units situated in the area linked to the findings in the report.

The resulting Compliance Audit and Investigation Report, available for download here, presents the findings of the assessments and outlines the required follow-up actions from the Certification Bodies involved.

The Compliance Audit and Investigation Report has also been forwarded to the RSPO Complaints Panel. It will be reviewed during the next Complaints Panel meeting which will take place today, 21st Oct 2015. A summary of the Panel’s deliberation will be available on the RSPO website within the next two weeks.

Further to the report, an integrity audit of the oil palm industry in Malaysia, aimed as a check on overall compliance to the RSPO requirements, will be carried out by ASI in November/December 2015.

The publication of this report represents RSPO’s commitment to transparency and reinforces RSPO expectations that our standard is rigorously audited and that performance of Certification Bodies is closely overseen by our accreditation body, ASI.

Update: The Rainforest Action Network has issued a statement on 09  November 2015 regarding ASI’s investigation of FELDA Estates. Please see the response issued by ASI, to highlight a few key factors of its assessment and investigation process, here. ASI and RSPO continue to encourage input from NGOs and relevant stakeholders regarding upcoming assessments in 2016.