6. International certification

When it was set up in 2004, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was a "business to business" initiative, with a dozen or so members from the private sector (including Unilever) and NGOs (including WWF). RSPO has become a multi-stakeholder international initiative dedicated to the certification and promotion of sustainable palm oil.

In November 2005, the 8 principles and 39 criteria for certification were approved, leading to the certification of the first plantations in 2008. The first batches of CSPO (Certified Sustainable Palm Oil) were marketed at the end of 2008.

Today, the round table brings together over 4,600 members in 7 categories: producers, processors and traders, manufacturers, banks and investors, retailers, environmental NGOs and social NGOs.

Working groups help to keep RSPO alive, to pursue,...