"It will be launched on Wednesday (March 30) (by agriculture minister Suswono). The ISPO will be officially effective as of March 2012 and it is hoped all oil palm plantation companies will have obtained the ISPO certificate by 2014," vice minister of agriculture, Bayu Krisnamurti, said here on Tuesday at the conference marking the 100th anniversary of Indonesia Palm Oil Industry held by the North Sumatra chapter of the Association of Indonesia Palm Oil Businessmen (Gapki) here from March 28 to 30.
He said the policy of implementing ISPO certification was taken in anticipation to importing countries of CPO and its derivatives later if they decided to only buy from exporters possessing certificates of palm oil sustainability.
Actually, he said, the ISPO provisions have partially been implemented for many years because in Indonesia no company may operate without a license.
The content of the ISPO is also not different very much from Europe`s Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) that has earlier been implemented, he said.
This has even been considered more matched because it was made in reference to the conditions and regulations in Indonesia, he said.
With the ISPO national palm oil regulations will be referred to the ISPO including the hope that Indonesia could determine by itself the selling price of its CPO so determined by the bourse in Rotterdam.
He said companies that have possessed RSPO certificates must also have ISPO because they operate in Indonesia.
Bayu said ISPO is facing four challenges to make it become a competitive power or a national palm oil power namely assuring that its process would be easy and appropriate, auditing and auditors, certificates for farmers and acceptance of buyers and international community.
Whatever the challenges would be the ISPO must be implemented and the challenges must be faced with efforts to make the ISPO successful.
The general chairman of the Association of Indonesia Oil Palm Farmers (Apkasindo), Anizar Simanjuntak, said he welcomed the launching of the ISPO with the hope that the country could later determine the quality and price of CPO by itself.
He also hoped the ISPO would not be as expensive as RSPO certificates so that it would be affordable for smallholders.
The chairman of Gapki of North Sumatra chapter, Balaman Tarigan, said Gapki members are ready to get the ISPO certificate although some have already had RSPO certificate.
(H-YH)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
