International, 24 April 2017 – Colombian-based agribusiness, DAABON Group, are the first in the world to become certified under RSPO NEXT, a voluntary add-on module engaging RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) member companies to exceed the RSPO’s internationally recognised sustainability standard. RSPO NEXT was developed in response to the increased market commitments for no deforestation, no development on peat, no fires, and no human rights violations.
The six day, five-man team audit, reviewed DAABON’s four palm oil estates in Northern Colombia and included certification of the 122 smallholder farms who supply the mill, for compliance with RSPO NEXT requirements, as an add-on to the RSPO Principles and Criteria evaluation. The additional criteria (available on the RSPO website at http://www.rspo.org/certification/rspo-next) are applicable at an organisation-wide level, including; investments, joint ventures, and the organisation’s wider supply base.
DAABON group’s oil palm plantation of circa 9,950 hectares (ha), has been certified according to RSPO Principles and Criteria since 2010, producing ‘Identity Preserved’ sustainable palm oil since then. DAABON commenced their additional RSPO NEXT auditing process in January 2017 by third party, independent, certification body, Control Union Certifications.
Manuel Julian Dávila, DAABON’s CEO, said: “This achievement reconfirms DAABON’s commitment to sustainability and RSPO. We are especially proud to be the first group globally, together with our 122 small farmers, to show that RSPO NEXT Certification is challenging, but doable, also for smallholders.”
Datuk Darrel Webber, CEO of RSPO said, “We congratulate DAABON Group for achieving this milestone. It is a demonstration of the great momentum we are seeing from RSPO members in the Latin American palm oil market, where output of certified sustainable palm oil is growing.”
Supun Nigamuni, Program Manager RSPO at Control Union Certifications, said: “Control Union strive to help our customers demonstrate their sustainability credential through the quality and integrity of third party certification. We are glad to have had the opportunity to do this at yet a higher level via RSPO NEXT certification.”
RSPO NEXT is based on a commensurate effort principle, which requires additional requirements also for the buyers of the RSPO NEXT credits in the market. RSPO NEXT credits will take place on RSPO PalmTrace platform via online bidding or Off Market Deals (OMD).
About RSPO
In response to the urgent and pressing global call for sustainably produced palm oil, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders. The seat of the association is in Zurich, Switzerland, while the secretariat is currently based in Kuala Lumpur with satellite offices in Jakarta, London and Zoetermeer (NL). RSPO is a not-for-profit association that unites stakeholders from seven sectors of the palm oil industry – oil palm growers, palm oil processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental or nature conservation NGOs and social or developmental NGOs – to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil. Such multi-stakeholder representation is mirrored in the governance structure of RSPO such that seats in the Executive Board and project-level Working Groups are fairly allocated to each sector. In this way, RSPO lives out the philosophy of the “roundtable” by giving equal rights to each stakeholder group to bring group-specific agendas to the roundtable, facilitating traditionally adversarial stakeholders and business competitors to work together towards a common objective and make decisions by consensus.
About DAABON
Headquartered in Santa Marta, Colombia, DAABON is a food solutions company that offers a variety of sustainable crops in a vertically integrated context, operated by the second generation of the Davila Abondano family. It´s responsible agriculture ranges from mountain crops such as Coffee and Cocoa to flatlands where bananas and palm oil are grown.
About Control Union Certifications
Control Union Certifications offers a global one-stop-shop for a wide range of certification programmes. We understand the importance of impartiality and objectivity, and how to professionally manage conflicts of interest. From the beginning, sustainability has been the main focus of our certification services. Control Union Certifications presents a wide range of programmes in agriculture, food, feed, forest products, textiles and bio energy. Being a global leader in RSPO certification, Control Union Malaysia Sdn Bhd is accredited for RSPO (RSPO-ACC-021) for the scope of P&C (Single Site & Group) and SCCS worldwide.