Working Groups - Palm Oil

mongabay.com | Rhett Butler | December 2011

For the full article click here.

Two Indonesian plantation companies have signed an agreement to train workers not to kill or injure orangutans and other protected species. 

The agreement was brokered by the Indonesian government between Orangutan Foundation International (OFI), a non-profit with operations in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, and two major plantation firms: PT Smart, one of Indonesia's largest palm oil producers, and PT Lontar Papyrus, which supplies wood-pulp to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP). Both companies are holdings of the Sinar Mas Group.

06/12/2011
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Agribusiness giant Cargill will ensure all palm oil supplied to customers in Europe, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an environmental standard, or originated from smallholder growers by 2015, according to a statement issued by the company. Cargill says it will extend the commitment to 100 percent of its products and customers globally - including China and India, the largest consumers of palm oil - by 2020.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0712-cargill_rspo.html

12/07/2011
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Members of the European Parliament have voted 'Yes' to the labelling of palm oil on food products, allowing shoppers to make choices about what they buy, and supporting vital changes in the palm oil industry as food companies will be encouraged to shift to sustainable sources of the ingredient. 

A coalition of conservation organisations, including Elephant Family, the Sumatran Orangutan Society, the Orangutan Foundation, Save the Rhino, The Jane Goodall Institute‐UK, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, and the Ape Alliance have, with their supporters, been lobbying MEPs to ensure that a new regulation on food information to consumers includes the mandatory labelling of palm oil on food packaging. On 6th July, with an overwhelming majority of 678 votes, MEPs voted in favour of clear labelling of specific vegetable oils, including palm oil. 

08/07/2011
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With Malaysia's Borneo rainforests already under pressure from palm oil plantations, they are now facing a new threat from the country's growing industrialisation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14062536

07/07/2011
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The Senate has passed an amendment to the Food Act requiring that
products containing palm oil be explicitly labelled, rather than
described as 'vegetable oil'.
 
The bill was passed by Coalition votes, and driven by Greens senator
Rachael Siewert and Independent senator Nick Xenophon, both of whom
have been vocal in their campaigns on the subject of palm oil. Most of
the world's supply of palm oil, an extremely common ingredient in
foods and food additives, is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, where
it is common practice to clearfell forest for plantations. Zoos
Victoria reports that clearfelling results in the deaths of up to 50
orangutans per week. 

 
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/169702/20110626/senate-passes-palm-oil-labelling-bill.htm

26/06/2011
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An undercover investigation has found evidence that a subsidiary of Malaysian palm oil company has illegally cleared forest in breach of the Indonesia's moratorium on new permits in primary forest areas and peatlands. 

A field investigation conducted last month by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Telapak found that PT Menteng Jaya Sawit Perdana (PT Menteng), a palm oil company owned by Malaysia-based Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK), has cleared peat forest near Sampit in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province without securing proper licenses. PT Menteng had only a Location Permit, not the Plantation Business Permit required under Indonesian plantation law or a permit from the Ministry of Forestry releasing the 7,400-ha (18,300-acre) concession. 

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0616-eia_telapak_menteng.html

16/06/2011
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