The government will soon apply Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) standards nationwide to sharpen the competitive edge of the commodity in the international market, an official said.

“I have heard ISPO will be made mandatory. So far, RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) has been applied voluntarily,” Deputy Trade Minister Mahendra Siregar said here on Friday.

He said the agriculture minister had completed the initial draft of ISPO. The draft had been distributed among various parties for inputs.

“I hope the process will go on so that the ISPO can be issued in the not too distant future,” he said.

For the time being, the government would only encourage palm oil producers to abide by the RSPO, he said.

He said the government and domestic palm oil producers had agreed that the issue of environment and good agricultural practices were something unbargainable.

“We have all agreed on the matter. I am optimistic we can continue to develop palm oil for exports in view of its great production potentials,” he said.

The issue of sustainable CPO has turned into controversy since the European Union planned to introduce renewable energy directives.

The EU policy gives preference to imported goods produced by means of environmentally-friendly processes and penalties on those produced by polluting the environment.

Source : Antara