More sustainably produced and segregated palm oil in food products
Level: Advanced
The large-scale production of palm oil can entail serious risks for both people and the environment, such as deforestation and decreased biodiversity. The criterium contributes to an improved traceability and more sustainable cultivation of oil palm.
Details
- Type:
- Technical specification
- ID:
- 11563
- Group:
- Margarine and oils
Criterion text
Palm oil and/or palm kernel oil, if included in the product, shall be produced in such a way that at least covers the following:
- Implemented routines that ensure that the conversion to agricultural land does not result in deforestation or damage to areas of high conservation value. The evaluation of what is regarded as high conservation value can be undertaken in agreement with the High Conservation Value Approach1, or a similar evaluation method relevant for the geographical area.
- The planting of oil palms on peatlands is prohibited as of November 2018. This applies to both existing and new plantations.
- The use of plant protection products shall be in accordance with the principles for Integrated Pest Management (IPM2). This involves preventing plant protection problems, monitoring the risk of damage in cultivations, need-based measures, as well as following up and evaluating the effectiveness of pest control measures.
It is adequate that the documentation of the traceability of the palm oil/palm kernel oil can be shown through a segregated chain of custody (Identity Preserved or Segregated).
1. High Conservation Value Approach, hcvnetwork.org/hcv-approach
2. IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Integrated Pest Management concerns a sustainable use of plant protection products. By combining different types of measures, weeds, fungal diseases and pests in the cultivation can be prevented or suppressed. Plant protection measures in your cultivation - Jordbruksverket.se (in Swedish)
Verification
Upon request, the supplier shall be ready to present one of the following, for example:
- Valid licence/certificate for a label/certification that complies with the requirement, for example RSPO (Round table on Sustainable Palm Oil) Segregated or Identity Preserved.
- The company's self-declaration including technical documentation of requirement compliance that has been verified by an accredited verification body, accredited for the task according to ISO/IEC 17029 or an equivalent standard.
Proposed follow-up
This requirement can be followed up during the contract period by, for example, spot checks of the product(s) subject to the requirements undertaken on one or more occasions.
Certification and labelling
If the requirement has been verified by means of a certification, then the supplier can show that the product(s) comply with the requirements by providing their own evidence or evidence from a subcontractor with, for example:
- Valid licence/certificate for a label/certification that complies with the requirement, for example RSPO (Round table on Sustainable Palm Oil) Segregated or Identity Preserved.
Self-declaration verified by an accredited verification body
If a self-declaration verified by an accredited verification body is used as evidence for the requirement, ensure that it is verified by a verification body, accredited for the task according to ISO/IEC 17029 or an equivalent standard.
Make use of specialist expertise in your organisation when following up the summitted evidence of compliance. This could, for example, be an environmental or sustainability strategist with extensive expertise within questions related to sustainability.
Information about the criterion
The criterium covers conventional food products that contain palm oil and/or palm kernel oil, for example margarine, biscuits and cakes. For composite products with a low content of palm oil and/or palm kernel oil, follow-up can require significant resources, for both the purchaser and the supplier. A market analysis should be undertaken to examine the availability of products that comply with the criterium.
Market analysis (in Swedish)
The criterium guarantees that the palm oil and/or palm kernel oil that the product contains are responsibly produced and are traceable through a segregated supply chain.
Organic production
Palm oil used in organic products is organically certified, grown without the use of chemical fertilisers or plant protection products, and is traceable within the value chain in the same way as other organic products. For EU-organic production there are no further requirements regarding deforestation. According to regulations from KRAV, there are however specific supplementary requirements that the palm oil shall not be grown on land that has previously had a high conservation value and has been converted to agricultural land during the last five years.
If the goal is to procure both organic and more sustainably produced and segregated palm oil, then criterium 11537 can be combined with criterium 11009 - EU-organic product. In this way a double-certified product, with both labelling for more sustainable and segregated palm oil combined with the EU-organic label, can be used during follow-up. An example of such a double-certification is the EU-organic label together with the RSPO or KRAV label.
Environmental goals
Motive
The oil palm is an important source of income for many small-scale growers. From the oil palm, various products are extracted, including palm oil and palm kernel oil that due to their characteristics can be used in everything from margarine, cakes and biscuits, ready-made meals, to soap and cosmetics.
Oil palm is primarily cultivated in Indonesia and Malaysia. More than one-third of the plantations that have been established in these areas during the last twenty years have been at the expense of tropical forests and entailed a large negative effect on people, plants and animals1.
By setting requirements that palm oil and/or palm kernel oil in food products is traceable increases transparency in the supply chain. It is important to continue to push for a more sustainable development of the palm oil industry and to slow deforestation and landuse change.
In Sweden, there is the Swedish Platform on Risk Commodities that was launched in April 2022. The platform is coordinated by ETI Sverige (Ethical Trading Initiative) and the members of the platform commit to requiring, verified more sustainable soy and palm oil through, for example certification. Similar initiatives exist in other countries.
The Swedish Platform on Risk Commodities
New Regulation on deforestation-free products
In December 2022, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU agreed upon a new regulation on deforestation-free products (EU) 2023/1115. The regulation covers inter alia soy, palm oil, cocoa and other risk-crops connected to deforestation. It is still not completely clear what consequences the deforestation regulation will have on different parties on the market. The regulation will be applied from the 30 December 2024.
Read more about the regulation on deforestation-free products
Versions history
The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.
- Current ID
- 11563
- Version date
- 2023-06-29
2023-06-29: New unique requirement ID, previously 10 886 Spearhead level. Requirement level has been changed from spearhead to advanced level. Adjusted the name of the requirement. Updated requirement text and fair working conditions have been deleted as it should not appear in the technical specification. Removed KRAV as evidence and added reference to organic production in the application instructions. Added suggestions for follow-up.