JAKARTA, Indonesia—PT SMART Tbk (SMART), a subsidiary of Golden Agri-Resources Limited (GAR), announced it received Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification for 14,955 hectares of plantations and one mill under in North Sumatra. SMART is the first palm oil operation from GAR to receive the RSPO certification.
The certification is part of the ongoing certification of SMART and another GAR subsidiary, PT Ivo Mas Tunggal, which covers 103,953 hectares of plantations and 11 mills. The certification brings GAR closer to its overall target of obtaining RSPO certification for all its palm oil operations by December 2015.
“The RSPO is among the leading international standards for sustainable palm oil and we remain committed to working towards RSPO certification for the remaining palm oil operations by December 2015," said Daud Dharsono, President Director of SMART. “Our sustainability efforts are guided by our internal values and principles since we commenced oil palm planting and we will take a leadership role in working with multi-stakeholders to find solutions toward sustainable palm oil productions."
GAR has engaged international NGO, The Forest Trust (TFT) to help the company prepare for RSPO certification for the rest of its existing 433,200 hectares of palm oil plantations and 42 mills by December 2015. This includes about 89,000 hectares of plasma scheme plantations involving about 45,000 smallholders. TFT has developed an overall gap assessment and a time-bound plan which were submitted to RSPO by GAR at the end of March 2011 and progress of this will be tracked closely. The palm oil operations established beyond June 30, 2010, will be part of a separate plan.
