Palm oil from illegal areas taints global brands
JAKARTA: Palm oil sourced from illegally cleared rainforest areas in Indonesia has flowed through traders to major consumer goods brands despite widespread commitments to cease purchases of non-sustainable oil, a new report says.
Palm oil companies Royal Golden Eagle (RGE), Wilmar , Musim Mas Group and Golden Agri Resources sold oil from 21 ‘tainted' mills to more than a dozen global brands including Nestle and Unilever , according to the report by Eyes on the Forest (EoF), a coalition of environmental NGOs including WWF-Indonesia.
In spot checks since 2011, EoF used GPS tracking to follow trucks carrying palm oil fruit, known as Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFBs), to mills from plantations within the T es so Ni lo National Park and Bukit Tigapuluh protected forest areas in central Sumatra.
“All companies bought directly or indirectly from at least some of the 21 implicated mills,” according to the report, which calls for traceability on palm oil to be improved and to be extended to plantations that supply mills.
Forest cover on Indonesia' s Sumatra island, home to endangered tigers, orangutans and elephants, had declined
All companies bought directly or indirectly from at least some of the 21 implicated mills. Report
by more than half to 11 million hectares in 2016 from the 25 million hectares it had in 1985, as palm oil and other plantations have expanded and encroached on protected areas.
Nestle said in an emailed response it was “committed to tackling” deforestation.
A company spokeswoman said the firm was working with partners to transform the palm oil industry “further down the supply chain”.
Unilever said by email it publicly disclosed suppliers and mill details and was committed to increasing trace ability in the palm oil supply chain “and to working with our suppliers and partners to resolve issues.”
Unilever also said it was examining “details behind the investigation to determine the right approach and next steps”.
Indonesia' s Environment Ministry spokesman Djati Witjaksono Hadi said smallholders, “not companies”, owned plantations in national parks. Hadi referred further questions on the mills to the ministries of agriculture and industry, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Similar issues were highlighted in earlier EoF reports including in 2016, but a lack of strict supervision by traders has led to more forest clearing and illegally grown palm oil entering global supply chains despite their commitments to improve traceability and stop deforestation, the report said.
“We acknowledge that it's really challenging to get traceability beyond them ill and going right down to the plantation source,” Elizabeth Clarke, WWF global palm oil lead, told Reuters. “But it's absolutely paramount that they do this.”
Among those mentioned in the report, Wilmar International was accused of buying palm oil from PT Citra Riau Sarana (PT CRS) whose three mills were found to have bought FFBs from Tesso Nilo in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017, even though Wilmar sold its 95 per cent stake in PT CRS in 2014.