The Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) has released a set of indicators that allow for the independent verification of performance against the POIG Charter, which was released in November 2013. The POIG Charter builds on the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil’s (RSPO) certification standard with additional requirements that ensure all palm oil operations by POIG grower members are free from deforestation, the destruction of peatlands, and human and labour rights abuses.
The first trial of the POIG indicators will be undertaken alongside its annual RSPO audit by Colombian palm oil producer DAABON in late May. POIG palm oil producer members Agropalma and New Britain Palm Oil have plans to seek independent verification that their operations are in compliance with the requirements and indicators outlined in the Charter by the end of 2014.
This is, said the group, good news for the growing list of palm oil consumer companies such as Nestlé, Ferrero, Unilever, L’Oreal, Safeway, DelHaize, Proctor & Gamble, General Mills, Kellogg and Mars which have made No Deforestation commitments and are demanding responsibly produced palm oil.
The Group released the following joint statement:
“The Palm Oil Innovation Group has taken a major step towards ensuring the availability of responsible palm oil from independently verified growers. With the detailed indicators agreed and released, palm oil producer members will now be able to confirm compliance with the stringent requirement of the POIG Charter and provide palm oil that is proven not to cause forest destruction, social conflict or aggravate climate change.”
“All that is needed now is for other stakeholders to actively support innovation and improvements in the palm oil sector and demonstrate that business as usual is no longer tenable.”
"POIG is committed to innovation within the palm oil sector and seeks to not only serve as a platform for sharing good practices, learning from each other and leading change but to demonstrating how and where such change can occur."
