KUCHING: The Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (SOPPOA) held a series of workshops on Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification recently in Miri, Sibu and Kuching respectively in collaboration with the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC). These workshops provided members and non members the opportunity to learn more about the certification processes as well as the benefits of certification for the companies.
In all, more than five hundred participants attended these three workshop sessions which also featured talks by SOPPOA member companies which have attained certifications and also detailed explanations from MPOCC on the processes for certification under MSPO.
“SOPPOA is committed to MSPO certification for its members and we are happy to note that many of our members have started the process towards certification while some have already attained the MSPO accreditation for their estates and mills,” said Tiong Chiong Ong, Chairman of SOPPOA. He added that SOPPOA was actively involved in the drafting of the MSPO charter over the last few years together with the MPOCC and other organizations and these workshops are to further enhance the knowledge and understanding of certification for the palm oil industry in the state.
As MSPO is mandatory for the palm oil industry of Malaysia with the deadline for certification by December 2019, he urged all involved in the industry to seriously embark on the process towards certification which will enhance the image of the industry as a whole as well as providing Malaysian palm oil a benchmark in the international market.
With certification, companies will be more efficient as well as productive in their overall capacities while maintaining sound environmental policies in their operations, he noted. Based on the feedbacks from the participants, these workshops were indeed timely as many have already taken the necessary steps towards certification process and greatly benefited from the knowledge gained.
For many participants, the sharing by SOPPOA member companies which have attained certifications provided them ample information in carrying out their processes while learning about avoiding the pitfalls as well.
With the inputs from the MPOCC officers present, the participants were also able to ascertain a number of questions pertaining to issues of pertinent to these companies in undergoing the certification process. Also present at these workshops were a number of companies representing Certification Bodies which provide auditing and other services to companies in attaining the certification.
“I am glad I attended the workshop as it has given me and my colleague the knowledge and information which we need to start our certification process,” said one participant in Miri. He said that the company was initially apprehensive to undertake the process but after hearing the talks and understanding the whole process, he was convinced that certification would provide the way forward for the industry as a whole.
A participant form Sibu informed that her company was apprehensive of the cost factor involved in the certification processes and was happy to note that based on the size of the estate, the company was able to get some funds from the MPOB (Malaysian Palm Oil Board) to offset the cost involved. According to another participant in Sibu, the workshop has managed to clear a number of questions pertaining to land titles and claims issues which were potentially viewed as hurdles for certification.
Based on MPOCC statistics, a total of 178,628 ha comprising 47 estates have been certified in Sarawak as at March 2018 while the number of palm oil mills certified is 17 out of the 78 mills certified in the country. In organising these three workshops in collaboration with MPOCC, SOPPOA has also provided members and non members to better understand the need for MSPO certification for the industry as a whole.
As noted by SOPPOA’s Chairman, the international market is moving towards sustainability and certification for palm oil which means that those without certification will face difficulties in selling and may even have to lower their prices.
More importantly, with certification, the industry will be able to move forward with confidence that Sarawak’s palm oil industry has attained the benchmark for sustainable palm oil produced in accordance to MSPO standards. SOPPOA is committed to attaining certification for its members as well as non members, including smallholders, as certification is the only way forward for the palm oil industry here.
