A certified palm oil

This vagueness, or even ignorance, also bears on a little known aspect of the palm oil ‘question’: CSPO. Yet this aspect could constitute one of the main routes to salvation in the face of the above mentioned difficulties. CSPO is Certified Sustainable Palm Oil. On the market since 2008, this oil comes from palm trees cultivated in compliance with 8 principles and 39 criteria developed by all the sector’s actors, as well as financial institutions and NGOs (and not just any: WWF, Oxfam, etc.). These guidelines aim not only to slow down or even prevent deforestation and the emission of greenhouse gases. They also aspire to ensure decent incomes for farmers and to develop respect for their social rights.

Currently, only 4 to 5% of the palm oil produced worldwide respects the CSPO criteria, developed by the RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil). It’s not much, notably due to the initiative’s youth and the time lapse required (four years) before the first certified plantations produce their fruits. Sophie Delacharlerie and Marianne Sindic note, nevertheless, that 5 out of the 6 Belgian and French distributors contacted by them nowadays consider this sustainable oil as an acceptable alternative from an environmental perspective.

That is encouraging. There again, however, there seems to be a shortfall in information on the consumer side of things. Thus, whilst one out of three of the people in the ‘general public’ group consulted by the researchers are in favour of the principle of a sustainable oil, only 7 out of the 210 respondents really know about CSPO! As for the ‘scientific’ public questioned, only 2 respondents out of 35 state that they know CSPO. And...none of them recognise the logo, which is all the more glaring in that the majority of those polled recognise the FSC label (Forest Steward Council), affixed to products derived from wood and pretty similar philosophically speaking.

‘Much more than a boycott of palm oil, CSPO – or an equivalent system – currently seems the best possible path to promote the sustainability of the palm oil sector,’ states Marianne Sindic. ‘But there is a lack of proactive communication concerning this type of alternative.’ This promotion drive promises to be difficult, because the CSPO sector is currently subject to a paradox: whilst there is obviously not enough certified oil on the global market to meet even the demands of European agrofood producers (in the hypothesis that they would make use of it for the whole ensemble of their products), the CSPO oil currently available is not finding buyers. In 2010, for example, less than half of the oil certified according to this methodology could be sold. If a certain speculation could explain this paradox, there is another factor which enables the slow development of certified oil to be understood: in offering consumers several levels of certification – and thus guarantees – the RSPO sins by a lack of transparency and readability. And that is something the most critical NGOs do not hesitate to condemn.

(3) Currently producers are not obliged to place on their products the exact nature of the plant based fatty acid(s) used. They will be obliged to do so from 2014 following the coming into force of a European regulation. Nutritional labelling will also touch upon the exact contents in terms of saturated fatty acids.