There is in an ever-urgent need and growing global concern that commodities are produced without causing harm to the environment or society. RSPO certification is an assurance to the customer that the standard of palm oil production is sustainable.

Palm oil producers are certified through strict verification of the production process to the stringent RSPO Principles & Criteria for Sustainable Palm Oil Production by accredited Certifying Bodies, and can be withdrawn at any time in case of infringement of the rules and standards. All organisations in the supply chain that use RSPO certified sustainable oil products are audited to prevent overselling and mixing palm oil with conventional (or non-sustainable) oil palm products. These organisations can claim the use of RSPO certified sustainable oil palm products “on pack” by using the RSPO Trademark.

Elements of the RSPO certification scheme:

Standard: This sets out the requirements which must be met and against which certification assessments are made. The RSPO Standard is the RSPO Principles and Criteria. Supply chain actors are audited against the RSPO Supply Chain Certification Standard.

Accreditation: This is to ensure that the organisations which undertake certification assessment — the Certification Bodies — are competent to undertake credible, consistent audits.

Process requirements: This is the process for establishing whether or not a set of requirements (i.e. the Standard) has been met and is carried out by an accredited Certification Body. The RSPO systems are detailed in the RSPO Certification Systems (see section below) and RSPO Supply Chain Certification Systems documents.