Everything You Need to Know About RSPO Certification

Palm oil is one of the most widely used products in the world, filling more than 40% of the global demand for vegetable oil. It’s also cost effective and easy to grow, creating an abundance of oil with little land utilization. Unfortunately, palm oil is also surrounded by controversy, with production linked to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and a number of human rights violations. 

In 2004, stakeholders from across the industry came together to form a non-profit called Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), designed to create and normalize sustainability practices for all aspects of palm oil production and harvesting. As part of this effort, the organization developed its own certification system to ensure manufacturers across the food, cosmetics, and even chemical industries only use sustainably produced palm oil ingredients and support an ethical supply chain. 

Getting RSPO-certified is a critical step for food and beverage companies that want to operate ethically. Even amid unprecedented supply chain breakdown and economic disruption, it’s important for food and beverage companies to prioritize sustainability. Here’s what you need to know about the RSPO certification process.  

What Is RSPO? 

In most cases, having a food safety certificate demonstrates compliance with specific food safety standards designed to protect public health. RSPO certification proves that a company adheres to the highest standards of ethics and sustainability for sourcing palm oil — playing a role in protecting the entire global supply chain. Here are the top benefits: 

• Reduced environmental impact. RSPO certification promotes sustainable palm oil production methods like protecting designated conservation areas, practices that minimize carbon emissions, responsible water management, and more. 
• Corporate social responsibility. Palm oil producers in the RSPO-certified supply chain uphold strict ethical standards in employing workers, respecting indigenous people and local communities around farm grounds, and engaging in ethical trade. 
• Greater accountability. RSPO-certified palm oil increases the ability to trace from end product to the plantation of origin, creating checks and balances to ensure there are no ethical or sustainability violations involved in production. Every party involved in the production of palm oil can be easily identified, improving accountability with other vendors as well as consumers. 

RSPO Certification Basics 

For manufacturers looking to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable palm oil sourcing, the application for certification is available on the RSPO website. Here are the key steps in the process: 

1. After a manufacturer confirms their role in the palm oil supply chain and enrolls as an RSPO member, they must choose their supply chain model. RSPO supply chain model options include: 
   1. Identity Preserved — Manufacturers buy from a single identifiable RSPO-certified supplier which is kept separate from palm oil that is produced conventionally throughout the supply chain. 
   2. Segregated — Manufacturers source their palm oil from multiple RSPO certified sources kept separate from conventionally processed oil.
   3. Mass Balance — Allows manufacturers to use a mixture of RSPO-certified and non-certified palm oil as long as the quantity of certified oil is accurately labeled and verified.
   4. Book and Claim — Allows manufacturers to buy RSPO certificates equivalent to the non-RSPO certified palm oil they use. This is similar to the concept of carbon credits. 
2. Next, manufacturers must get certified under the RSPO Standards most relevant to their operation. The timeframe for the certification process depends primarily on the manufacturers’ ability to conform with standards. In general, certification can be achieved within two months of addressing a non-conformance. 
3. Manufacturers receive valid RSPO certification for five years, during which time accredited certification bodies (CBs) conduct annual surveillance audits. These ensure manufacturers remain compliant throughout the duration of the certification. 

Meeting RSPO certification requirements can be challenging, especially while companies are forced to allocate so many resources handling supply chain breakdowns and other disruptions. Manufacturers need expert support in addressing operational issues that cause non-conformance with RSPO standards, especially if they want to avoid additional costs and delays while addressing them. 

AIB International has a 100-year track record of helping food and beverage manufacturers overcome their most challenging and complex food safety certificate challenges. With our new RSPO Supply Chain Certification service, manufacturers can leverage the insight and attention of certification specialists to meet RSPO standards in record time. Click here to learn more.