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Endorsed by the RSPO Board of Governors and adoption of 2024 RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard at the 21st RSPO General Assembly on 13 November 2024
Introduction
What is Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard
The RSPO ISH Standard is part of a wider RSPO system. To support independent smallholders to move towards sustainability and livelihood improvements.
Who
Who can use the RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard
to pursue RSPO Certification
The 2024 RSPO ISH Standard is only applicable to those smallholders who qualify as independent smallholders. Independent smallholders can be both men and women.
A smallholder can pursue certification through the RSPO ISH if:
01
Has enforceable decision-making power on the operation of the land and production practices
02
Has the ability and freedom to
choose how the land and type of planted crops is organised, managed, and financed
03
Meets any further criteria or definition relative to the applicability of the RSPO P&C and RSPO ISH Standards,
Provided in the relevant National Interpretation for a specific country
04
The total size of their oil palm production area is
smaller than or equal to 50 hectares if no threshold is defined in a National Interpretation OR smaller than or equal to the maximum size defined in a National Interpretation
05
Is not a scheme smallholder
(defined as a smallholder who supplies FFB to a specific RSPO P&C Unit of Certification and its mill(s) under a formal and legal contractual FFB sourcing agreement)
Summary
Total number of principles, criterias and indicators under ISH
7
Principles
50
Criterias
120
Indicators
What
To what does the RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard apply
The RSPO ISH Standard applies to the total combined plots of an individual smallholder that are under oil palm production. This is provided that the total area belonging to the individual smallholder does not exceed the size threshold (50 ha or as defined in a National Interpretation).
This ISH Standard is applicable for:
How
How to get certified under the RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard?
The Independent Smallholder:
- Must be a member of a group of independent smallholders seeking certification;
- Can form a new group or join an existing group; and
- Must sign the Smallholder Declaration committing the smallholder to meeting full compliance with all requirements of the RSPO ISH Standard (Refer to Annex 2)
The Group:
- Must be a legally formed entity, as defined under the national laws of the country where the group is located;
- Must appoint a group manager that meets all the requirements of the Internal Control System (Refer to The Internal Control System Requirements for Smallholder Groups); and
- Can have members that are at different phases in the certification process (Refer to RSPO Phased Approach for Independent Smallholder Certification) e.g., the group can have members working towards compliance with Eligibility, Milestone A, and/or Milestone B. Members can join at different phases and times, and the membership of the group can continue to grow.
Understanding
Phases of smallholders
The RSPO ISH Standard introduces a phased approach to enable smallholders to achieve compliance over a specified period of time.
The approach includes three phases:
Entry Level
Eligibility (E);
minimum requirements that need to be met in order to enter the certification system.
Progress
Milestone A (MS A);
intermediate requirements to be met within 2 years.
Full Compliance
Milestone B (MS B);
final requirements to be met within 1 year of meeting milestone A.
Certication
RSPO certification ensures that all users and consumers are contributing to the production of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO), and thereby reducing the negative social and environmental impact of conventional oil palm cultivation.
At the heart of this process is the RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C), a set of stringent standards for sustainable palm oil production that RSPO members must comply with.
Impact Areas
The RSPO P&C are organised into three impact areas according to the RSPO ToC.
01
Prosperity
A sustainable, competitive, and resilient palm oil sector ensures long-term viability of the entire supply chain and shared benefits for both private sector as well as the livelihoods of communities where oil palm is grown.
Read Criterias02
People
Human rights protected, respected and remedied. The palm oil sector contributes to reducing poverty and palm oil production is a source of sustainable livelihoods.
Read Criterias03
Planet
A sustainable, competitive, and resilient palm oil sector ensures long-term viability of the entire supply chain and shared benefits for both private sector as well as the livelihoods of communities where oil palm is grown.
Read CriteriasCertification, Claims, and Benefits
The 2024 RSPO ISH has been drafted based on a simplified adaptation
The 2024 RSPO ISH has been drafted based on a simplified adaptation of the ‘ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, Principles and Rules for the Structure and Drafting of ISO and IEC documents’, in particular Section 7 ‘Verbals Forms for Expression of Provisions’. This is to ensure that the standard is written, and can be read or interpreted, in a consistent manner and style across the entire document.