Only sustainable palm oil
Published on: Thursday, November 05, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The State Cabinet has made a landmark decision to have all palm oil produced in Sabah certified as sustainable palm oil or CSPO within 10 years.In a meeting on Oct. 21, Cabinet Ministers decided to launch a 10-year jurisdictional programme for the CPO (Crude Palm Oil ) certification on grounds that palm oil is a crucial crop for Sabah's wellbeing.This means the manner in which the oil is produced will eventually be subject to third party auditing to comply with accepted global standards.
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A Committee will be established to implement the programme to be headed by the Secretary of Natural Resources, with the Forestry Department providing interim secretarial support. RSPO and Forever Sabah, a NGO, will provide technical advice and relevant parties including NGOs. Government departments, scientific organisation, etc, shall be co-opted into the Committee. Sabah Forestry Director Datuk Sam Mannan, a regular advocate of independent third-party auditing, lauded the decision."CSPO as a brand for Sabahh's oil palm, shall elevate its position as a producer of responsible oil palm. This is what will keep us competitive," he said.
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"The current forest fires, allegedly caused by bad oil palm development practices, must never be associated with Sabah's oil palms," he said. "The Forestry Department is of the opinion that the State Government's support, an exemplary decision of good and responsible governance, shall spur interest to buy Sabah's palm oil as a premium product and at the same time act as a catalyst for downstream activities," Mannan asserted.
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"Sabah currently exports 12pc of the world's CPO (Crude Palm Oil) and is the third largest producer, after Indonesia and Peninsular Malaysia," he noted. "At present, some 30pc of Sabah's production comes from sustainable sources, under the gold standard of the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), an international grouping of buyers, producers, civil society, scientific organisations and NGOs, amongst others. Its secretariat is based in Kuala Lumpur." "In time to come, with increasing expansion of oil palm plantations in other countries with suitable land to spare, Sabah's share of the world market will shrink. "Further to that, on costs alone, Sabah might not be able to compete and it is unlikely that Sabah will be in a position to expand its land area for planting further, due to the scarcity of lands and the marginal quality of whatever land that is still available," Mannan warned."Hence, to remain competitive with its CPO and its oil palm products saleable economically, Sabah has to upgrade its position by competing on the basis of governance and not size, which it is unable to do," he reasoned."It is anticipated that funding to implement the programme on a step-by-step strategy would come from many sources, including RSPO, corporate donors and the oil palm sector itself. The Forestry Department shall support the endeavour in kind," Mannan added. "Special attention shall be given to smallholders to get group certification at no cost to them," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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