Public Consultation for the RSPO Revised 2015 FPIC Guide and Simplified FPIC Approach for Independent Smallholders

With the adoption of the revised RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) in November 2018 and Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard in November 2019, oil palm producing companies and Independent Smallholders are required to show compliance with Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) requirements of the RSPO Standards. RSPO members, specifically Independent Smallholders, must comply with a new Simplified FPIC Approach as mandated by the RSPO ISH Standard while oil palm producing companies are required to adhere to the existing FPIC requirements in the 2018 RSPO P&C standard.

In order to support RSPO members in compliance with the FPIC requirements of the RSPO standards, the FPIC Sub Group, Expert Group for the development of a simplified FPIC for Independent Smallholders, and consultants have developed a draft of the RSPO Revised 2015 FPIC Guide and a Simplified FPIC Approach for Independent Smallholders.

The revised 2015 FPIC guide is meant to be a logical and intuitive guide that describes practical and methodical steps in carrying out the FPIC process in line with the 2018 P&C requirements and can be used in existing as well as new plantations by palm oil producing companies.

The new Simplified FPIC approach for Independent Smallholders on the other hand is meant to be a friendly guide to illustrate to Independent Smallholders how they can comply with the FPIC requirements of the ISH 2019 standard, with the assistance of tools and simplified strategies aligned to their context.

Both the above mentioned guides aim to share best practices and strategies that will ensure FPIC principles are applied in operations to meet the relevant criteria and indicators.

The public consultation will last for 30 days from 7 April 2021 to 7 May 2021.

Please download the drafts (in PDF format), available in four (4) languages for the RSPO 2015 Revised FPIC Guide and five (5) languages for the Simplified FPIC Approach for Independent Smallholders at the end of this announcement.

Subsequently, please provide your comments to the relevant sections for both guides via the online feedback form in your preferred choice of language.

To ensure the safety and well-being of our members, we will not be organising any face-to-face workshops; however, webinars and online consultations will be held on 21st April 2021 (RSPO Revised 2015 FPIC Guide) and 23rd April 2021 (Simplified FPIC Approach for ISH), which will provide the scope and content of the revised guide / simplified approach and the intended feedback to enhance the current drafts. Further information on the webinars will be provided closer to the dates