The RSPO Secretariat would like to congratulate our Latin American members for reaching 1 million metric tonnes of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) production capacity. This milestone was reached earlier this April, as two new grower companies received certification and pushed the last 70,000MT of CSPO into the region’s certified output. The 1 million MT milestone comes from 23 certified growers in the region from Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Brazil, Costa Rica and Honduras, covering a total of over 322,000 hectares of certified land. This means 22% of the region’s palm oil is RSPO-certified, making it the fastest growing region in terms of certified hectarage.
Acknowledging the work of smallholders
This milestone has also been achieved through the hard work of schemed smallholders in the region. In Latin America, 15% of CSPO now comes from schemed smallholders in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala, where more than 52,000 hectares are RSPO certified. In turn we’d like to recognise the great effort of these smallholders and also the companies that have accompanied them and included them in their certification process.
Assessing the wider implications for CSPO in Latin America
RSPO Latin America Director, Francisco Naranjo, sums up this milestone and what it represents for the Latin America region and market, “RSPO and Latin America palm oil growers have just reached a milestone in the production of certified sustainable palm oil after arriving at the 1 million tonne mark of CSPO under our standard. This number is a representation of the leadership in the region and evidence of the compromise of growers and other interested parties to reach RSPO's mission; to make sustainable palm oil the norm.”
RSPO CEO Datuk Darrel Webber added: “Welcome Latin America to the million-tonne club! This is a watershed moment and we will surely see the industry pick up the pace to produce the best kind of edible oil…Certified Sustainable Palm Oil.”
Once again, we are certain RSPO members will use this milestone as an inspiration to continue the hard work they’ve been doing and continue the rapid growth of certification in Latin America.
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