Minister: Final decision on mandatory MSPO certification next year

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is set to make a final decision next year on whether to make the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification scheme mandatory, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong.

He said the government has considered making this certification scheme mandatory to all planters, including smallholders for the industry to be more recognised and sustainable.

“By next year, we will decide on whether to make MSPO certification mandatory.

“If it is mandatory, all smallholders will also have to do it. This will take time and money, so I don’t want to make a hasty decision,” he said after opening the Oils and Fats International Congress 2016, here, yesterday.

Mah said some planters have called for compulsory MSPO certification, saying it could enhance the nation’s image, but others are reluctant as they see the certification as expensive and not easy to do.

Mah said there are 500,000 smallholders in Malaysia, making the process of getting all of them MSPO certified a difficult task.

Smallholders, including independent smallholders and organised smallholders in land development schemes, account for 40 per cent of the country’s oil palm hectarage.

“Some of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) requirements are difficult for smallholders to meet. I think MSPO is more realistic and practical and it covers nearly 80-90 per cent of the RSPO requirements.

“Some planters have five acres, others have 10 acres under oil palm cultivation. Now we are looking at a way of joining them together into one single cluster and getting them a common certification,” he said, expressing hope that by 2020, all Malaysian planters are MSPO certified. Bernama