RSPO Labour Auditing Guidance based on the RSPO Principles & Criteria Handbook for Auditors

We are pleased to announce that the RSPO Labour Auditing Guidance based on the RSPO Principles & Criteria (P&C) was endorsed by the Assurance Standing Committee (ASC) on 22 September 2022.

The intent of this document is to improve the auditability of the labour requirements of the RSPO P&C and provide Certification Bodies (CBs) with a clear methodology that ensures a consistent system and approach to plan and execute RSPO P&C audits. As this guidance is intended to have global applicability, CBs are advised to consider its practicality and appropriateness to the local context.

The document provides recommendations for four stages of audit: application and signing of contract, audit planning, audit execution and audit reporting, as well as guidance for verification of Principle 6 of the P&C – Respect Workers’ Rights and Conditions.        

This document shall be used as a voluntary guidance for a trial period of eighteen (18) months, effective from the date of this announcement (21 November 2022). The Secretariat, along with the ASC and the Accreditation Body will be closely monitoring the implementation of this guidance and an evaluation of its effectiveness will be conducted at the end of this trial period.

The RSPO Secretariat will be hosting two webinars on 15 December 2022 covering the Asia/Pacific and Africa/Latin America time zones. This will be followed by physical training sessions for CBs and auditors. More information about the events will be announced soon.

For more information or clarification, please contact us at [email protected].

View document: Guidance on Labour Auditing