RSPO becomes full ISEAL member as progress towards sustainable palm as ‘norm’ continues

01-Jun-2015 - Last updated on 02-Jun-2015 at 09:53 GMT

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has completed the process to become an ISEAL full member in a move which it hopes will speed up the progress of making sustainable palm oil use the norm.

Palm oil, palm kernel oil and its derivatives are used in approximately 70% of personal care and cosmetics products, and by joining the global membership association for sustainability standards, RSPO hopes to scale up the impacts of its vision, and demonstrates that it has credible and effective systems in place.

Following an independent evaluation against the Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards (Standard-Setting Code), the ISEAL Board of Directors made the decision at its May meetings in Berlin.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which first joined ISEAL as an associate member in 2013, also had to demonstrate concrete progress in implementing the Impacts Code, which was verified through a review by the ISEAL Secretariat.

“Since the RSPO first joined ISEAL, we have benefited from a network of like-minded standards, generating insights and strategies and enabling us to continue improving against the latest innovations and best practices,” says Darrel Webber, RSPO Secretary General.

“We firmly believe that being an ISEAL full member will further help us to scale up our impacts in our vision of transforming markets to make sustainable palm oil a norm.”

Membership

ISEAL Executive Director, Karin Kreider, adds: “the decision to grant RSPO full membership is a testament to the steps that have been taken to ensuring RSPO’s standard system is credible and able to achieve its sustainability goals.”

“We look forward to working with the team as the programme continues to evolve and improve.”

ISEAL full members, which include Fairtrade International, 4C Association and Marine Stewardship Council, Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, Responsible Jewellery Council and many others, represent some of the most influential standards and ecolabels in the world, all with sustainability objectives at their forefront.

Membership in ISEAL helps to distinguish an organisation’s adoption of credible practices and commitment to delivering and improving positive impacts through standards.

The transition from associate to full membership reflects the verified progress that organisations make on implementing ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice.