What changes have been made to the RSPO standards and are they consistent with EUDR standards?

The RSPO standards were revised after an intensive two-year audit involving a wide range of stakeholders. These included the Principles and Criteria and the Independent Smallholder Standard. The RSPO Roundtable in Bangkok, Thailand, this week voted to bring them into force and they were signed on 13 November.

Human Rights Due Diligence

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Now, producers must conduct human rights due diligence not only for themselves, but also for their direct suppliers. The goal of this due diligence is to ensure that workers are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions.

RSPO CEO Joseph D'Cruz said the new standards include "stricter grievance procedures, new safeguards and protections against forced labour."

Yen Hun Sung said the inclusion of human rights due diligence in the standards was due “in part” to the presence of the EUDR and the Corporate Sustainability Dignity Directive (CSDDDD).

FoodNavigator reported that "human rights are expected to play a greater role in sustainability certification."

He said that when revising the standards, the RSPO should consider what regulators are looking for, as well as the interests of the market and the wishes of its members. The revisions aim to strike a balance between these factors.

Standard for small independent operators

The RSPO also published its Independent Smallholder Standard to encourage certification of smallholder farmers, and these guidelines were signed by all participants at the roundtable.

The term “smallholder farmer” is used to describe those who have an area planted with oil palm of less than 50 hectares. This standard applies only to independent smallholder farmers.

The standard places more responsibility on the group leader than previous certification systems. Candidates must also be part of an independent group of smallholder farmers seeking certification. Group leaders are trained to provide the same type of education and support to the smallholders in their group. The standard is a general guideline that allows for interpretation in the context of national legislation.

There are two steps that the smallholder must take to qualify. First, they must show continuous improvement and progress. The second step is when they achieve full compliance. During the assessment process, smallholders can sell their fresh fruit branches in exchange for RSPO credits. The volume of credits increases after the first step. These can then be passed on to the factory or through supply chains.

Yen believes the smallholder standard balances providing smallholders with a safe working environment, workers’ rights and good agricultural practices. Good agricultural practices such as a fertilization schedule will help increase yields and allow smallholders to stay within the boundaries of their land.

Consistencies in the EUDR

In some areas, EUDR does not align with RSPO. The two definitions of a forest are different.

EUDR follows FAO in using a numerical definition of forest. EUDR defines forest as a large area with more than 0.5 ha of trees, with a canopy cover of at least 10 % and trees with an average height greater than five metres.

The RSPO uses a more qualitative definition. For producers to be certified, they must avoid deforestation of High Conservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock (HCS) forests. The HCV area is defined by its species diversity, cultural values, habitats, ecosystems, community needs and ecosystem services.

Global Forest Watch estimates that 26% of the forest is primary forest. These are forests with native trees, little or no human disturbance, and few invasive species.

Criticisms of the standard

Some NGOs such as Greenpeace have criticised the standard because it includes a different definition of HCS forest than that provided by the HCS Approach (HCSA) Toolkit, with which the standard was previously aligned.

The HCSA uses a combination of field data, such as biomass levels, vegetation composition and structure, and an aerial view to determine the conservation value of a particular forest. The HCS forest definition includes high, medium and low density forests as well as young regenerating trees. Open land and scrub do not.

Grant Rosoman, senior advisor at Greenpeace, said: “The HCS definition that RSPO members must use before any development is now perversely based on a comparison of the carbon that can be accumulated if oil palms are planted in forest that was destroyed to build a plantation.”

He suggested, in contradiction with EUDR standards, that deforestation could continue after November 2018, provided that compensation and redress procedures are respected.