Palm Oil 可追溯性

Why is Traceability Necessary?

Conducting traceability exercises enables us to understand where and how oil palm fruits or fresh fruit bunches (FFB) are produced. Traceability is essential in making sure all parts of the palm oil supply chain comply, and whether it complies with our sustainability policy. Traceability data is also a tool to identify and engage supplier mills and smallholders.

Traceability to Mill and Plantation

Traceability to mill (TTM) refers to the traceability level of palm oil products processed by the refinery, right down to mill. The data is derived from the amount of traceable product derived by the total amount of products received by the refinery. For a mill to be considered traceable, we require the parent company name, mill name and address, and the volume of its products for our facility.

Traceability to plantation (TTP) refers to the traceability level of palm oil products right down to plantation. For a plantation to be considered traceable, we require the company name, plantation name, the plantation map, and the size of the concessions. For smallholders to be considered traceable, we require the information of the farm location with the size of the farm or the village name where the farm is located.

The TTP information will be used to determine suppliers’ risk through our Risk Management Framework (RMF). Village level and 50 km radius approach will be used where TTP data is not available. This will provide a more conservative result to the risk determination.

Our detailed Risk Assessment Framework (RMF) methodology can be accessed here.

We provide annual updates on the progress of our traceability work in our Sustainability Reports.

Ideal Approach

In the ideal approach, the source of FFBs is traced back to the plantation/farm area owned by the respective smallholders.

Data is gathered from the truck drivers at our mills.

Compiled information is analysed to aggregate FFB volumes from each farmer.

Data is collected at the field from each farmer.

GPS data is mapped.

Supply Shed Approach

To accelerate the traceability process for third-party suppliers, we map smallholders’ villages against a landscape map and prioritize risk areas. We recommend this risk-based methodology for suppliers with limited resources as it is approximately three times faster to implement and costs at least 13 times lesser than the Ideal Approach.

Data is gathered from the truck drivers at our mils. Each farmer is grouped into their village location.

Location of villages is mapped against protected areas. Villages near or overlapping protected areas are prioritized.

Data is collected from farmers in those high-risk villagers.

Legally status of the farm is studied.

Addressing Key Challenges for Traceability to Plantation

One of the key challenges with TTP is to trace back the ownership of the land. This is especially so for independent smallholders. For a mill’s supply chain that has its own plantations, third-party plantations, farmer cooperatives, or a trans-migrant farmer program initiated by the government, palm oil traceability to plantation is possible.

The entire registration process in the Plantation Service (Dinas Perkebunan) or Land Service (Dinas Pertanahan) is clear. However, most independent smallholders are not registered with the government. This means we must carry out our own identification and traceability. Furthermore, the produce from independent smallholders makes up a large percentage of smallholder crops, which adds to the complexity of the traceability problem.

We train and help our third-party suppliers to conduct mapping and traceability activities. This is part of our long-term commitment to responsible palm oil sourcing to ensure environmental development and livelihood enhancement for independent smallholders who contribute significantly to the industry.

Traceability in the palm oil industry is complex. We understand we cannot solve all the associated challenges alone. We collaborate with external stakeholders, other plantation companies, government agencies, donor organizations, NGOs and consultants to maximize positive impacts within the landscapes where oil palm is grown.

Data Sets

For more information on our list of suppliers, refining and kernel crushing facilities traceability data, TTM/TTP, and NDPE IRF Verification Statement, please refer to the dedicated webpages as follows: