FELDA has become the world’s first smallholder body to be certified as
being sustainable or environment-friendly, allowing easier access for
its products in Western markets.
So far, the Federal Land
Development Authority (Felda) has received the Roundtable of Sustainable
Palm Oil (RSPO) certification on a portion of its estates and
operations.
Felda aims to be fully certified by 2017, said chairman Tan Sri Dr Mohd Yusof Noor.
A certified-RSPO product like cooking oil can make it onto the
supermarket shelves in Europe and the US in a bigger way as it promises
no illegal felling and burning of forests or the destruction of the
orang utan’s habitat during its production process.
For starters, two out of Felda’s 70 mills will be covered under the
certification. This will be extended to all of its 70 mills by 2017
involving 700,678ha of land owned by settlers and Felda.
“The
certification, which Felda has been pursuing since 2004, is recognition
that Felda is an organisation that practises sustainable plantation
operations in a responsible manner,” Yusof told reporters at Felda’s
headquarters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday after the handing-over of the
certificate to the estate managers.
The two mills are in Kota Gelanggi 1 and Lepar Utara 6 in Pahang and 11 estates which supply oil palm fruits to these mills.
The certification also means an extra income of more than RM1 million a
year with the two mills’ current production of 102,884 tonnes of crude
palm oil and 24,391 tonnes of palm kernel oil gaining premium
recognition.
Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd group
president Datuk Sabri Ahmad said CPO produced by a RSPO-certified mill
can be sold at a higher price of around US$50 (RM160) a tonne.
“Felda also expects to record a similar production output of 3.1
million tonnes of CPO this year as produced in 2009,” said Yusof.
Felda was an early member to sign up for the RSPO membership in 2004.
The initiative now is the global standard promoting growth and the use
of sustainable palm oil throughout the supply chain.
Government-owned Felda is the world’s largest plantation owner and
manager taking care of over 850,000ha. It produces a fifth of the
world’s CPO output, earning total revenue of up to RM15 billion a year.
