RSPO Supply Chain Systems
Overview
Palm oil or palm oil derivatives certifi ed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) can be purchased through three supply chain systems: ‘Segregated’, ‘Mass Balance’ and ‘Book and Claim’. Each of these systems comes with its own advantages, requirements and pre-approved consumer claim. The three systems ensure that market claims about the production and use of sustainable palm oil remain transparent and accurate. Following is a brief overview; more detailed information is available in subsequent fact sheets. Full guidance is also available online at www.rspo.eu/market.
RSPO SUPPLY CHAIN SYSTEMS
1 ‘Segregated’ 2 ‘Mass Balance’ 3 ‘Book and Claim’
Certifi ed palm oil is kept apart throughout the supply chain.
Certifi ed palm oil is mixed in with conventional palm oil but monitored administratively.
Certifi ed palm oil is not kept apart; Suppliers sell certifi cates to users; Claimed volumes are matched.
PRE-APPROVED MARKET CLAIMS (see “RSPO Guidelines on Communication & Claims”)
This product contains [only/...%] RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil
This product/brand/company advances (or equivalent) the production of RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil (equivalent to ...% of the palm oil utilised)
This product/brand/company advances (or equivalent) the production of RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil (equivalent to ...% of the palm oil utilised)
REQUIREMENTS (See “RSPO Supply Chain Certifi cation Systems”) • All operators in the chain need to be
RSPO members (except subcontractors)
• All processors in the chain need to be
RSPO- supply chain certifi ed (except subcontractors)
• Up to fi nal refi nery, owners report all
shipments and deliveries to the UTZ online monitoring system
• All operators in the chain need to be
RSPO members (except subcontractors)
• All processors in the chain need to be
RSPO- supply chain certifi ed (except subcontractors)
• Up to fi nal refi nery, owners report all
shipments and deliveries to the UTZ online monitoring system
• Certifi cate purchases through online
GreenPalm system
• Claimed oil volumes cannot exceed
certifi cates obtained
• One in ten end-users is independently
audited
ADDED COST • RSPO membership:
< 500 MT/yr: € 100
> 500 MT/yr: € 2000
• Supply chain certifi cation (one audit/year) • CSPO premium including
- $2/MT administrative costs - $1/MT contribution to RSPO
• RSPO membership:
< 500 MT/yr: € 100
> 500 MT/yr: € 2000
• Supply chain certifi cation (one audit/year) • CSPO premium including
- $2/MT administrative costs - $1/MT contribution to RSPO
• GreenPalm membership:
$500 - or RSPO membership
• Claim validation audit/year (one in ten
end-users)
• Certifi cates purchase price including
- $2/MT administrative costs - $1/MT contribution to RSPO
MORE INFORMATION ON TRADING
www.utzcertifi ed.org
palmoil.support@utzcertifi ed.org +31.20.530.8000/Bas Geerts
Protocol on RSPO Supply chain certifi cation systems: www.rspo.org (Key Documents)
www.utzcertifi ed.org
palmoil.support@utzcertifi ed.org +31-20-530-8000/Bas Geerts
Protocol on RSPO Supply chain certifi cation systems: www.rspo.org (Key Documents)
www.greenpalm.org Bob.Norman@greenpalm.org +44-1482-332-013/Bob Norman
www.rspo.org
rspo@rspo.org
THREE CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING THE BEST RSPO SUPPLY
CHAIN SYSTEM FOR YOUR COMPANY:
1. Your market claim
Does your company want to claim the physical presence of RSPO-certifi ed palm oil in a particular product?
- yes: use the ‘Segregation’ system
- no: use either the ‘Mass Balance’ or ‘Book and Claim’ system
2. Your added cost
Purchases through the ‘Segregation’ system will generally carry the highest extra cost (because of segregation and physical tracking). ‘Book and Claim’ will generally carry the lowest extra cost. ‘Mass Balance’ will usually fall in between the two.
3. Your company sustainability policy
Does your company want to contribute to building a physical fl ow of RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil to your local market?
- yes: use either ‘Segregated’ or ‘Mass Balance’ - no: use ‘Book and Claim’
Criteria for choosing supply
chain systems
Promoting The Growth And Use Of Sustainable Palm Oil
rspo@rspo.org
www.rspo.org
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has set upcertifi cation schemes to assure palm oil processors and consumers that the sustainable palm oil they purchase indeed supports plantations that operate in a sustainable way. The schemes include independent third-party certifi cation of oil production and verifi cation of detailed requirements for the supply chain.
A. Certifi cation of the production of sustainable
palm oil
The unit of certifi cation is the unit of palm oil production: the palm oil mill and its supply base. To certify the mill, the supply of its oil palm fruits must be certifi ed. Certifi cation includes estates managed by the mill and estates managed by other suppliers including smallholders. Newly certifi ed mills have to have a plan that ensures that 100 percent of associated smallholders are of certifi able standard within 3 years.
Organizations with more than one plantation can only be certifi ed if:
• they are a member of the RSPO, and
• they present a robust, time-bound plan to certify all of their remaining units, and
• there are no signifi cant land confl icts or labor disputes that are not being resolved through an agreed process, and • there have been no replacements of primary forest or
other high conservation value areas since November 2005, and
• there is no evidence of non-compliance with the law in any of the non-certifi ed holdings.
Oil mills and their supply base are audited based on the RSPO Principles, Criteria and Indicators, and National Interpretations that are approved by the RSPO.
The RSPO has approved third-party certifi cation bodies, a listing of which is posted on the RSPO website. The certifi cation bodies carry out audits and may issue certifi cates. Their procedure includes documentation review, fi eld checks and interviews with external stakeholders (statutory bodies, indigenous peoples, local communities, workers’
organizations, local smallholders and national NGOs). A summary of the fi nal report, which includes non-compliances identifi ed or issues that were raised by stakeholders, will be published on the RSPO website.
Certifi cation and verifi cation
of sustainable palm oil
production and its supply chain
A certifi cate is valid for a maximum of fi ve years, during which maintenance audits are held every year. Costs of certifi cation and audits are agreed between a mill and its certifi cation body.
B. Certifi cation of the palm oil supply chain
Palm oil is delivered to end-users through a supply chain in which oil from various sources comes together. End-users of RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil can claim either to use or to advance sustainable palm oil when they adhere to the requirements that belong to either one of four RSPO Supply Chain Systems. These supply chain systems are described in separate fact sheets.Companies that deliver segregated RSPO-certifi ed palm oil to subsequent links in the supply chain must register the transaction with the RSPO Supply Chain database, which is hosted by Utz Certifi ed, an internationally recognized expert in the fi eld. The database enables the tracking and tracing of certifi ed products and facilitates input/output calculations by the RSPO.
Compliance of shippers and processors will be verifi ed by third-party certifi cation bodies.
Detailed information on the requirements can be found in the RSPO Supply Chain Certifi cation Systems document, which is available at the RSPO’s website under ‘Key documents’.
In order to maximize the options for manufacturers and retailers to move towards sustainable palm oil, various claims have been developed for companies that like to get involved. Each of these claims corresponds to specifi c supply chain systems.
Since in most products palm oil is only one ingredient, claims may rarely appear on product labels. Instead, manufacturers or retailers may choose to use websites or brochures to tell customers how their brand or company promotes the growth and use of sustainable palm oil.
Claim #1: “This product contains [only/..%]
RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil”
Manufacturers and retailers have the option to reassure their clients that the actual palm oil they buy came from plantation(s) that work in a sustainable way. They can do so by saying that their product ‘contains RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil’. In order to make such a claim, oil from sustainably producing plantations has to be kept apart all the way: at the mill, in trucks, in vessels, in processing lines and in storage tanks. Manufacturers who purchase the oil at the end of the chain must be able to trace it all the way back to one or more RSPO-certifi ed plantations.
The claim can be underpinned by either of two supply chain systems: ‘Identity Preserved’, tracing sustainable palm oil all the way back to specifi c RSPO-certifi ed plantations, or ‘Segregation’, permitting the mixing of RSPO-certifi ed oil from various sources as long as the mix is kept apart from
uncertifi ed oil.
Claims and corresponding
supply chain systems
Claim #2: “This (product, brand, company)
advances the production of RSPO-certifi ed
sustainable palm oil (equivalent to X % of the
palm oil utilized)”
Manufacturers and retailers can also tell customers that they advance sustainable production of palm oil in cases where they cannot be sure that the actual oil in the products originated from certifi ed plantations. Administrative certifi cation procedures still ensure that such a claim corresponds with actual production of sustainable palm oil. The claim can be underpinned by either of two supply chain systems. The fi rst of those, ‘Mass Balance’, allows for administratively monitoring at any mixing of RSPO-certifi ed and uncertifi ed palm oil in the supply chain, to check whether the volume of sustainable oil that is claimed does not exceed the amount that is actually produced.
The second, ‘Book and Claim’, does not track oil through the supply chain but lets suppliers and end-users trade sustainability certifi cates through an online trading system. Every ton of oil sold under this claim corresponds with one ton of oil that is produced sustainably, without the need for tracking and tracing.
More information
More detailed descriptions of the various supply chain systems can be found on separate fact sheets.
The RSPO has created Guidelines on Communication & Claims for on-pack communication, product communication and corporate communication. These guidelines are available under ‘Key documents’ at the Roundtable’s website (www.rspo.org).
This product contains [only/..%] RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil”
‘Identity Preserved’ Specific RSPO-certified plantation ‘Segregation’ Several RSPO-certified plantations
“... advances the production of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil (equivalent
to ..% of the palm oil utilized)
‘Mass Balance’ RSPO-certified + conventional plantations Certificates RSPO-certified plantations ‘Book & Claim’
Promoting The Growth And Use Of Sustainable Palm Oil
rspo@rspo.org
www.rspo.org
Palm oil can be traced back to individual palm
plantations
The Identity Preserved supply chain system provides an
elaborate way to separate and track sustainably produced palm oil. The model requires that fruit bunches and oil receive unique identifi ers and are kept physically apart by growers, mills, transport and storage providers, refi ners, and manufacturers. All steps in the supply chain are documented, creating a paper trail that can be followed back all the way from end-users to one specifi c palm grower. The end-user is assured that the
Supply chain systems:
Identity Preserved
physical palm oil he received came from a uniquely identifi able, RSPO-certifi ed plantation.
Because of the extensive need for documentation and verifi cation, Identity Preserved is the most costly of the four supply chain systems.
Corresponding claim:
“This product contains [only/..%] RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil”
More information
For more information on how to use the Identity Preserved system, please contact Bas Geerts at Utz Certifi ed
(www.utzcertifi ed.org).
e-mail palmoil.support@utzcertifi ed.org phone number +31-20-530-8000.
Sustainable palm oil pooled but kept separate
all the way
The Segregation supply chain system provides an elaborate way to separate and track sustainably produced palm oil. The model allows for the mixing of palm oil or derivatives from various RSPO-certifi ed sources.
The model requires that fruit bunches and oil from RSPO-certifi ed sources are kept physically apart from other palm oil by growers, mills, transport and storage providers, refi ners, and manufacturers. The end-user is assured that the physical palm oil he received came from one or more RSPO-certifi ed
Supply chain systems:
Segregation
plantations. However, other than with the Identity Preserved system, the oil can not be traced back to individual
plantations. Because of the extensive need for documentation and verifi cation, Segregation is a relatively costly supply chain system. However, it is less costly than ‘Identity Preserved’.
Corresponding claim:
“This product contains [only/..%] RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil”
More information
For more information on how to use the Segregation system, please contact Bas Geerts at Utz Certifi ed
(www.utzcertifi ed.org).
e-mail palmoil.support@utzcertifi ed.org phone number +31-20-530-8000.
Promoting The Growth And Use Of Sustainable Palm Oil
rspo@rspo.org
www.rspo.org
Well-defi ned mix of sustainable and
conventional palm oil
The Mass Balance supply chain system relates volumes of RSPO-certifi ed palm oil delivered into an unsegregated supply chain to volumes of oil purchased by end-users. The model allows for mixing of sustainable palm oil with oil from uncertifi ed sources at any point in the supply chain so long as the total volume of oil purchased as being RSPO-certifi ed does not exceed the volume of RSPO-certifi ed sustainable oil that went into the chain.
For this system, trade in sustainable palm oil is monitored
Supply chain systems:
Mass Balance
administratively throughout the entire supply chain.
Sustainable palm oil does not, however, have to be stored or shipped separately. For that reason, the Mass Balance supply chain system is relatively inexpensive. However, under the system end-users cannot make claims about the actual physical content of their products.
Corresponding claim:
“... advances the production of RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil (equivalent to .. % of the palm oil utilized)”
More information
For more information on how to use the Mass Balance system, please contact Bas Geerts at Utz Certifi ed
(www.utzcertifi ed.org).
e-mail palmoil.support@utzcertifi ed.org phone number +31-20-530-8000.
Sustainable palm oil without segregation
and tracking
The Book and Claim system is the most fl exible and cost-effective way for end-users to claim their support of sustainable palm oil. The system does not require volumes of oil to be kept apart or tracked through the supply chain. Rather, it allows end-users to claim support for specifi c volumes of sustainably produced palm oil based on RSPO-guaranteed certifi cates they have purchased online. At the very origin of the chain, RSPO-certifi ed palm oil suppliers may put such certifi cates up for sale.
Under the scheme, certifi ed growers and mills feed crude palm
Supply chain systems:
Book & Claim
oil to unsegregated supply chains; end-users obtain their oil from unsegregated sources. Digitally traded certifi cates specify oil volume credits.
Traceability requirements in this system are limited to the manufacture of end products to ensure that claims are covered by purchased certifi cates. End-users cannot make claims about the actual physical content of their products.
Corresponding claim:
“... advances the production of RSPO-certifi ed sustainable palm oil (equivalent to .. % of the palm oil utilized)”
More information
For more information on how to use the Book and Claim system, please contact Bob Norman at GreenPalm (www.greenpalm.org).
e-mail bob.norman@greenpalm.org