Posted on June, 21 2013

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has terminated the membership of Indonesian palm oil producers Dutapalma Nusantara and PT Darmex Agro, following repeated breaches of the RSPO Code of Conduct.

The first complaint received by the RSPO was from the Indonesian Community Mapping Network in 2009, which alleged that the company:

• developed a palm oil plantation on peat land of 3 metres in depth
• cleared forest without HCV assessment; and
• cleared land by open burning

After repeated attempts to get the company to address the complaint, RSPO stated in a letter to the company that “PT Dutapalma Nusantara / PT Darmex Agro have not demonstrated commitment to address the issues nor acted in compliance with the Code of Conduct. Despite numerous directives from the RSPO to resolve the complaint, there was complete reticence and lack of response from the company. The company merely attempted to refute the allegations by using the issue of ownership of the companies involved.”

Duta Palma has faced several government investigations, the results of which have never been made public according to Greenpeace. Duta Palma claims to be one of the largest palm oil companies in Indonesia, producing some 432,000 tonnes of crude palm oil annually according to its web site. It has at least 155,000 ha of plantations in Riau and Jambi in Sumatra, and West Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo.

Mongabay, RSPO