All 42 companies own a total of 87,772.06 hectares of plantations, producing approximately 332,775.42 tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) annually, Chief of ISPO Commission Secretariat Azis Hidayat said in Jakarta Tuesday.
"So, that makes 1,430,105.31 hectares of total plantation grounds owned by 226 ISPO recipient companies, producing a total of 6,746,321.93 tonnes," he noted.
The ISPO certificate was handed over by the Agriculture Ministrys Plantation Directorate General Bambang on the commemoration of 59th Agriculture day and the official opening of the Indonesian Agriculture Museum in Medan, Saturday (December 10).
At the moment, the ISPO committee has received a list of 80 companies that have been audited by a survey institution, appointed by the government, Azis noted.
These companies will then be reviewed by the ISPO Committee assessment team in order to determine whether they fit the criteria listed in the Agriculture Minister Regulation number 11 of 2015 about a Sustainable Palm Oil Certification System.
Azis hoped that all 80 companies in the list would pass the verification process so that they could receive their certificates by March next year.
"My target is to hand them the certificates in March, in conjunction with ISPOs 6th birthday. That is the momentum that we use to hand over ISPO certificates," he said.
Meanwhile, Plantation Directorate General Bambang encouraged business makers and palm farmers to earn ISPO certificates so that their products could compete in the international market.
The negative campaigns against palm oil products are being conducted by foreign parties up until today, due to the competition between palm oil and vegetable oil, he believed.
"For that reason, we need to also show the world that Indonesian plantations are environmentally friendly," he said.
ISPO is a policy established by the Indonesian government through the Ministry of Agriculture in the hope of increasing the countrys palm oil competitiveness in the world market, while at the same time participating in the presidents commitment to diminish the glass-house effect as well as pay more attention to environmental issues, he stated.
The ISPO certificate shows that Indonesian palm oil plantations are committed to sustainable practices, Head of Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) Joko Supriyono said.
"This is uncontested, especially with the growing number of companies that have passed the ISPO certification processes," he said.
Palm oil plantations have been making Indonesias land greener for 105 years. They have also contributed to the welfare of over 4.6 million farmer families and act as the backbone for Indonesias economy by being the biggest export contributor, he continued.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
