RSPO Secretariat reaches final decision on Post-Verification Assessment Monitoring of Socapalm S.A. 

The RSPO Secretariat has reached a final decision on the Post-Verification Assessment Monitoring as a follow up to the Independent Verification Assessment at Socapalm operations in Cameroon.  

In early 2022, the RSPO Secretariat initiated an independent RSPO Verification Assessment at Socapalm S.A. (a subsidiary of SOCFIN S.A.), following the allegations that were published in July 2020 and January 2021.

On 16 June 2022, the RSPO Secretariat issued a decision letter (as referred to in this post) on the completion of the RSPO Verification Assessment at Socapalm. The verification assessment concluded some key findings and action requests for Socapalm to act upon. On completion of the verification assessment, these were later transferred to the RSPO Secretariat’s Compliance sub-division for  Post-Verification Assessment Monitoring.

Subsequently, the RSPO Secretariat conducted Post-Verification Assessment Monitoring activities between July 2022 to December 2022 and reached a number of conclusions outlined in this decision letter.

Following these conclusions, the RSPO Secretariat has made a decision to close out this Post-Verification Assessment monitoring and will further inform the Certification Bodies and Accreditation Body for them to continue overseeing the issues outlined in the decision letter, during upcoming and subsequent RSPO audits.

The RSPO Secretariat wishes to thank Socapalm for its cooperation throughout this process in maintaining compliance with RSPO Standards and system requirements in striving for continuous improvement.

The protection and respect of human rights are an essential pillar of the RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C), which govern the production of certified sustainable palm oil by producers that have chosen to become RSPO members. Allegations of misconduct by members are not representative of RSPO standards.

The RSPO is committed to enhancing its monitoring systems on a more consistent basis and to improving the RSPO Assurance system overall. Any organisation or agency with additional information about violation(s) of the RSPO Standards found on any RSPO member plantations is encouraged to submit a formal complaint through the Complaints System.