Faisal Maliki Baskoro Jakarta Globe 17 May 10;
Nestle sent mixed signals on Monday regarding its intentions on palm oil, garnering praise from both Greenpeace and one of the environmental group’s frequent targets, Sinar Mas Group.
Nestle, the world’s biggest food group, announced that it was committed to stop using products that contributed to the destruction of rainforests, and to that end had entered a partnership with The Forest Trust environmental group, which helps companies establish responsible supply chains.
This comes after a months-long social media campaign by Greenpeace highlighting Nestle’s purchase of crude palm oil from Sinar Mas Group, which Greenpeace accuses of destruction of rainforests and peatlands to make way for plantations. The allegations prompted Nestle to drop Sinar Mas as a supplier in March.
Pat Venditti, head of the Greenpeace International Forest Campaign, praised Nestle.
“Nestle’s move sends a clear message to Sinar Mas and to the rest of the palm oil and paper industries that rainforest destruction is not acceptable in the global marketplace. They need to clean up their act and move to implement a moratorium on rainforest destruction and full peatland protection.
“Greenpeace will closely monitor and push for the rapid implementation of Nestle’s plan,” Venditti said in a statement.
However, Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse reported on the same day that a Nestle executive at a seminar on palm oil and deforestation in Kuala Lumpur said the company might resume buying palm oil from PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology if an “independent” audit shows Greenpeace’s allegations are baseless.
Nestle executive vice president Jose Lopez was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that “if Sinar Mas, or anybody else, does a proper job on quality, on traceability, on having a transparent supply chain, of course we will buy from them .... After this whole audit is completed, we will make the right decision at that time.”
However, Lopez also said the company was concerned with criticism over deforestation.
In April, Sinar Mas Group appointed two bodies, Control Union Certification and the BSI Group, to assess Greenpeace’s claims. However, Greenpeace has questioned the neutrality of the groups, which have been approved by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a trade body of producers and buyers.
Bustar Maitar, of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, on Monday said The Forest Trust was a neutral organization, but questioned the impartiality of Sinar Mas’s self-appointed auditing teams.
“We suspected that Sinar Mas’s assessment might be biased and not transparent. If Nestle continues to buy from Sinar Mas it will only prove that our suspicions were true,” he said. “If Nestle decides that our evidence is baseless, we will continue to press on and won’t stop campaigning.”
He said that if Greenpeace’s evidence of deforestation was proven, then Nestle had no choice but to sever all ties with Sinar Mas.
Fajar Reksoprodjo, corporate communications director at Sinar Mas, said it appreciated Nestle’s professionalism and looked forward to doing business again after a clear and independent assessment was announced.
“Everyone should wait for the assessment report for an accurate and legitimate information,” he said, adding that the report was expected to be completed around July.
Achmad Manggabarani, director general of plantation crops at the Agriculture Ministry, said the Greenpeace campaign was controlled by foreign interests.
“Foreign countries saw palm oil as having the potential to trigger climate change, but so far there hasn’t been accurate research that proves that.”
Additional reporting by Ardian Wibisono, Arti Ekawati & Budi Otmansyah
