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STATEMENT OF INTENT
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
This
Statement of Intent is a non-legally binding
expression of support
for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a
business initiative by
Aarhus United, Golden Hope Plantations Berhad,
Malaysian Palm Oil
Association (MPOA), Migros, Sainsbury’s,
Unilever and WWF.
Kuala Lumpur,
22 August 2003
A.
Preamble
The signatories of this
Statement of Intent recognise that:
-
the Roundtable on
Sustainable Palm Oil is a leading example in
the general trend towards sustainable
agriculture;
-
due to its intrinsic
qualities, palm oil is an important and
versatile raw material for both food and
non-food industries, which contributes to
the economic development of the producing
countries and to the diets of millions of
people around the world;
-
sustainable production
implies legal, economically viable,
environmentally appropriate and socially
beneficial management and operation;
-
sustainability must
result from consultation and informed
consent by all stakeholders, that may
include residents in areas of production,
palm oil plantation companies, smallholders,
actors along the entire supply chain,
consumers, governmental, intergovernmental
and non-governmental organisations;
-
most observers, from both
the industry and outside, would agree that
the best companies and smallholders within
the palm oil sector are models of
sustainability, in terms of economic
performance as well as social and
environmental responsibility;
-
not all palm oil is being
produced sustainably at present, and there
is a risk that expansion of oil palm
plantations could be running counter to
sustainable development in various parts of
the world;
-
progress must be made to
produce more palm oil sustainably, to make
sure that expansion of oil palm plantations
will take place on lands that do not have a
high conservation value.
B. The
Roundtable
The Roundtable will promote
the development of a credible definition of
sustainable palm oil production and
implementation of practices that
comply with this definition.
Therefore, signatories to
this Statement of Intent will:
-
Actively participate in
the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil,
which will be working on the following
tasks:
-
research and development
of definitions and criteria for the
sustainable
production of palm oil;
-
undertake practical
projects designed to facilitate
implementation of sustainable best
practices;
-
development of solutions
to practical problems related to the
adoption and
verification of best practices for
plantation establishment and management,
procurement, trade and logistics;
-
acquisition of financial
resources from private and public funds to
finance projects under the auspices of the
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil;
-
communication of the
Roundtable’s work to all stakeholders and to
a broader public.
-
Commit themselves to:
-
actively and
constructively communicate and support the
continuation of the
Roundtable process and the implementation of
Roundtable projects;
-
develop and implement
plans of action to their best ability within
their own
organisations, in accordance with the
framework of the Roundtable process, to
promote sustainable palm oil production,
procurement and consumption;
-
operate transparently and
inform the Roundtable regularly on plans,
activities and results in promoting
sustainable palm oil production, procurement
and consumption.
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