Indonesian, Indian palm oil bodies team up to promote sustainable trade
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), recognising for the first time Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and the Indian Palm Oil Sustainability Framework (IPOS) as legitimate sustainability frameworks for palm oil production and trade between both countries, was inked by the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India, the Indonesian Palm Oil Board (DMSI) and global sustainability support organisation Solidaridad Network Asia Limited (SNAL) during a high-level meeting with the coordinating ministry for economic affairs, in Jakarta, Indonesia, recently.
It is expected that such cooperation would lead to joint promotion of IPOS and ISPO aligned sustainable palm oil in Indian, Indonesian and other markets through awareness creation amongst all stakeholders including consumers.
The MoU signing was witnessed by DarminNasution, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for economic affairs, who hosted a high-ranking palm oil delegation from India on a visit to Indonesia.
It comprised ShatadruChattopadhayay, managing director, SNAL; Atul Chaturvedi, president, SEA, and director, Adani Group; B V Mehta, executive director, SEA, and senior representatives of Indian palm oil companies like Godrej and Vijay Solvex.
The ceremony was graced by the representatives of the Indian Embassy, the ministries of agriculture, trade and foreign affairs and other delegates in the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Jakarta.
The event was followed by an open discussion on issues related to India-Indonesia palm oil trade matters, exploring synergies between the IPOS Framework and ISPO and develop a roadmap towards supporting each other.
Nasution welcomed the cooperation and hoped that through the cooperation between SEA, DMSI and SNAL, will be able to strengthen our relationship, and thereby, taking forward the discussion on continued growth of palm oil and its derivatives as was discussed between Indonesian president Joko Widodo and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to lndonesia. He also hoped that this collaboration will be a long lasting one and a win-win for both Indonesia and India in line with the commitment by the leaders of the two nations.
Chaturvedi, said, “The MoU would lead the way for long-term sustainability of palm oil sector in the region by reducing barriers and facilitating enhanced production and trade of sustainable palm oil.”
“I am confident that synergies between IPOS and ISPO would jointly safeguard the competitiveness of the palm oil industry, readiness for facing future consumer demands in sustainable manner and fulfill the national commitments towards sustainable production and trade of palm oil,” he added.
Chattopadhayay stated, “Solidaridad is happy that with this MoU a process of recognising respective national sustainability initiatives on palm oil in Asia has been initiated for the first time.”
“Such cooperation would allow expansion of palm oil production and trade benefiting producers, extractors and consumers in Asia without compromising on the social and environmental aspects. Solidaridad looks forward to supporting the operationalisation of the agreement as sustainability partner,” he added.
lskandar Andi Nuhung said, “This cooperation is expected to improve the performance of national palm oil industries, especially when faced with many challenges in international markets, particularly from Europe and America.”
“This partnership will be an entry point to encourage more palm oil exports to India. Due to the nature of the MoU, I hope there will be a concrete follow-up of this MoU that can benefit both parties, including to promote Indonesian sustainable palm oil in India,” he added.
As it is known that Indonesia is currently the world’s largest palm oil producer with an area of about 14.3 million hectare and production of about 40 million tonne.
Palm oil is a source of vegetable oil and has contributed to meet the needs of public consumption in the form of cooking oil and other downstream products or in the form of bioenergy (biofuel).
The Indian delegation also visited Sintang District, West Kalimantan, and met provincial government officials, before visiting Solidaridad and KelingKumang Group- (KKG) implemented projects with palm oil smallholders.
Ten of the outperforming farmers from the project were recognised by the Indian palm oil industry delegation along with cash awards.
Further strengthening of cooperation between West Kalimantan palm oil producers and Indian palm oil buyers was explored during the week.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India, the Indonesian Palm Oil Board (DMSI) and Solidaridad Network Asia Limited (SNAL) on 16th July, 2018 in presence of Mr DarminNasution, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Dr B.V. Mehta, Executive Director, SEA and Dr ShatadruChattopadhayay, Managing Director, Solidaridad Network Asia,at Jakarta, Indonesia.
This memorandum recognises for the first time Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and Indian Palm Oil Sustainability Framework (IPOS) as legitimate sustainability frameworks for palm oil production and trade between both the countries. It is expected that such cooperation would lead to joint promotion of IPOS and ISPO aligned sustainable palm oil in Indian, Indonesian and other markets through awareness creation amongst all stakeholders including consumers.
An ambitious roadmap and action plan has been outlined based on the MoU tofacilitate sustainability in palm oil production and trade between two countries through synergies between two national standards.This would safeguard the competitiveness of the palm oil industry, readiness for facing future consumer demands in sustainable manner and fulfil the national commitments towards sustainability.
It is expected that the collective and coordinated efforts of stakeholders would facilitate national actions towards long-term sustainability of palm oil while addressing barriers and route causes limiting the sustainability of Indian palm oil sector. Overall IPOS would enhance sustainability performance of Indian industries in global markets while offering practical solution relevant to the Indian conditions.
Indonesia, India sign business-to-business agreement on palm oil
Indonesian and Indian businesspeople signed on Monday a business-to-business agreement on palm oil to build communications between producers and consumers of the commodity.
The agreement, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on sustainable palm oil production, was signed by the Indonesian Palm Oil Board (DMSI), the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India and civil society organization Solidaridad Network Asia.
“India uses our palm oil products a lot so we need to build communications not only between the two governments but also between associations,” Coordinating Economic Minister DarminNasution said during the MoU signing at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister in Jakarta.
He said a network of associations could help the government campaign about the use of palm oil in India and address misconceptions about the commodity.
“Because of the lower price, consumers in India consider palm oil a low-quality product, which is not true. Because palm oil yield is three to four times higher than other [vegetable] oils, we can provide a lower price,” Darmin said.
SEA president Atul Chaturverdi, who promised to campaign for the sustainable production of Indonesian palm oil, said the MoU would allow for better cooperation between Indian and Indonesian palm oil stakeholders.
“This MoU can be a way forward to create a sustainable model for Indonesia, which is good for smallholders as well as consumers of palm oil in India,” he said. (bbn)