We believe that palm oil should be produced sustainably and we are committed to responsible and sustainable palm production on our own palm plantations. We already have responsible palm production policies on our own plantations and we want to play our part by working with the industry and the Indonesian government to encourage the adoption of more sustainable production practices.

For some time, we have had clear social and environmental policies for each of our palm plantations in Indonesia. Before beginning any proposed development or expansion we perform a thorough environmental assessment. We will not develop land areas if surveys reveal the presence of high conservation value forest (HCVF). We comply with local laws on forest clearance — and we always obtain relevant government approvals.

• We will not plant on areas of high conservation value forest (HCVF).
• We will not develop new plantations on deep peat land.
• We have a strict no-burn policy for land preparation.

In July 2010 we announced a collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to undertake an assessment of our suppliers in Indonesia to help gauge current progress to implement the RSPO standards and to enable us to work with them to help implement these standards.

At the end of 2010, 70 percent of our total crude palm oil was purchased from RSPO members and we are focused on improving this figure across our global palm businesses. We are encouraging our third party suppliers to join RSPO and attain certification. It is our hope that all oil palm plantations become RSPO certified. Our eventual goal is to have a 100 percent RSPO certified supply chain in the future.

Supporting local smallholders

Oil palm smallholders in Indonesia are a significant contributor to the success of our plantations. We are helping local landowners develop their fallow land into income generating palm estates at no cost as we pay for the development, rental fees and crop royalties to the landowner.

In August 2010 smallholders at our PT Hindoli palm plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia became the first to be certified under the RSPO’s Smallholder Principles & Criteria. We are working with the RSPO and Control Union Certification, an RSPO approved certification body, to provide training to our crude palm oil suppliers to raise awareness of RSPO, as well as working with Fauna and Flora International to help smallholders in Malaysia and Indonesia understand and implement the RSPO criteria.

In partnership with OPIC and the World Bank we are supporting a $60 million expansion program to add 4,000 hectares of smallholdings, while meeting the RSPO sustainability guidelines and upgrading roads. We want to ensure that smallholders have a market for their crops, therefore, we accept smallholder fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) ahead of even our own company crop.

Supporting local community land rights

Cargill News, Cargill's employee magazine, regularly features stories about how our businesses and employees support responsible sourcing. Read the following stories from this issue (PDF): A Plantation Grows in Borneo Guardians of the Rainforest

We are committed to not threatening or diminishing the resources or tenure rights of indigenous people. We ensure that we have the legal right, and are recognized by the country’s government as the rightful entity, to use and manage the land.

Poorly defined land rights between the local population and the government and multiple claims over the same area of land do result in disputes. We consult with local communities on land rights issues and provide fair compensation for any loss or damage.

In Indonesia, we negotiate directly with individual landowners and local community leaders. The entire process is witnessed by local officials and requires us to compensate the local community leaders for existing crops, together with full notarization of agreements documenting our ownership of the land rights. We ensure that all mutual agreements with communities and individuals are clearly defined, documented and legally established.

Protecting local water systems

We monitor and treat all wastewater we produce to ensure that it complies with the applicable legal standards. Wastewater generated from our milling operations contains organic materials from crushing palm fruits, which we reduce by passing the water through a series of cooling, settling, mixing, anaerobic and aerobic ponds. By relying on the natural activities of anaerobic and aerobic bacteria to breakdown the organic materials, wastewater can be treated to legal standards without adding chemicals. Where permitted, some of our plantations use the treated wastewater from this process to irrigate and fertilize the trees on our plantations, enabling us to conserve water and reduce the need to apply additional fertilizer.

Supporting employee rights

We abide by the laws in the countries in which we operate, pay competitive wages and offer performance bonuses to attract and retain our employees. Our policies include the rights of workers to organize, join a union and voluntarily negotiate on our plantations as outlined in International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98.

Ensuring responsible labor practices

We do not accept or support the use of illegal, abusive, or enforced labor in any of our operations anywhere in the world. We adhere to national laws that require those working on farms to be at least 15 years old in Indonesia. This is on the proviso the work does not disrupt school attendance and these employees are fully protected from potential economic exploitation, moral and physical hazards.

Improving access to health and education

As part of our long-standing commitment to ensure employee health and safety, we provide free basic health care where we operate, as well as free day-care and free housing to most permanent plantation employees.