RSPO Certification for palm oil products
Palm oil is a versatile and in-demand commodity, but from a sustainability perspective, it can be controversial.
A growing number of stakeholders, including manufacturers, retailers and consumers, want reassurance that palm oil products are produced responsibly, without causing harm to the environment or society.
RSPO certification from NQA Certification Limited t/a BM TRADA provides a credible way to help meet demand for this product, while providing assurances of sustainability throughout the supply chain to business customers and consumers.
What is the RSPO?
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a global non-profit that works to transform the palm oil industry to make it sustainable.
Founded in 2004 to meet the growing concern about the environmental and social impact of palm oil production, the RSPO brings together stakeholders from across the palm oil supply chain to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil.
Today, around 20% of global palm oil carries RSPO certification.
What is RSPO Certification for Palm Oil Products?
The RSPO’s supply chain certification scheme allows manufacturers and retailers to ensure and prove that all the palm oil they sell comes from certified sustainable sources.
Certification ensures that your palm oil supply chain is secure, traceable and transparent, offering credible evidence to customers and stakeholders that the palm oil you are using is produced responsibly.
Certification is available to all food and non-food products that use palm oil and palm oil derivatives. It provides evidence that the product originates from well-managed, certified sources and verifies that they are not mixed with products from non-certified sources at any point in the supply chain, except under strict management controls within the Mass Balance system.
NQA uses the name and branding 'BM TRADA' for Management Systems Certification, Supply Chain and Chain of Custody Certification services under licence.
Helps you with
Gaining RSPO certification can provide significant benefits to your organisation:
- Demonstrate your commitment to sustainable environmental/agricultural practices and responsible sourcing.
- Protect your business and safeguard your reputation.
- Improve your operational efficiency, reducing costs and increasing profitability.
- Meet the expectations of major manufacturers and retailers, many of whom have time-bound commitments to the use of sustainable palm oil in their products.
- Help your organisation gain access to new markets and consumer groups.
- Support compliance with upcoming legislation (including EUDR).
Why do you need Supply Chain Certification for Palm Oil products?
Palm oil production has expanded significantly over the last few decades, driving increasing concern over the sustainability of its cultivation and the impact of palm oil on local populations and ecosystems.
Unsustainable palm oil production is widely seen as one of the main factors driving global deforestation (alongside cattle production and soybean cultivation), leading to a negative reputation for palm oil among many consumers.
There is also increasing consensus among NGOs and supply chain sustainability experts that boycotting palm oil or removing it from supply chains would be a net negative. This is because the problems associated with palm oil would simply be transferred to alternative crops that require more land than palm. Instead, certified sustainable palm oil is increasingly recognised as the best available solution.
As the need to prove the sustainability of palm oil becomes more important, manufacturers and retailers want to ensure that the claims they make about their products will stand up to scrutiny.
The supply chain for palm oil, from tropics to the end consumer is particularly complex. Supply chain certification addresses this, considering the entire, unbroken path which products take from source to consumer, including all stages of refining, manufacture, processing, transportation and distribution.
It ensures that your product comes from where you say it comes from.
RSPO Supply Chain Models
There are three supply chain models within the RSPO certification system:
- Identity preserved: Traceable back to the originating palm oil mill and its supply base.
- Segregated: Physical isolation from non-certified palm oil sources and mixing with other certified palm oil.
- Mass Balance: Allows mixing of certified and non-certified palm oil in a controlled environment, ensuring that the volume of certified palm outputs never exceeds the certified inputs.
RSPO Certification from NQA
We offer a full RSPO Certification service. Contact us today for additional information or a quote.