Pressure builds on palm oil firm Goodhope after RSPO sanction
A month after the world’s largest sustainable palm oil association took action against one of its most prominent members, Goodhope Asia Holdings, over failures to comply with its standards on new planting, doubts remain over the future of their relationship. On Apr. 28, the Complaints Panel of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) wrote to the Singapore-based company calling for work to be frozen on seven concessions in Indonesia as a result of “poor quality” audits and insufficient documentation, which fell short of the requirements of the body’s New Planting Procedures. Issues reportedly included failures to protect areas of high conservation value, such as primary forests; to identify how the company had negotiated with local communities to use their land; and to submit documentation identifying land converted from forest to palm. The RSPO said the action was taken as a “precautionary measure,” as it set out a series of deadlines for Goodhope to re-do crucial land assessments and submit new documents.
