Increasing transparency in palm oil: Cargill reaches 94% traceability to mill and launches grievance process

Since announcing our sustainable palm oil action plan last November, we have been working across our supply chain to implement and monitor progress on our sustainable palm oil policy. We recognize this is an important issue for our customers, our employees and the communities in which we operate.

In our fourth quarterly update, we share progress on our activities to increase traceability, formalize our grievance process and fight hotspots in Indonesia:

• We’re moving toward our goal of 100% traceability to mill for all the palm we ship by the end of this year. As of September 30, we reached 94% traceability to mill, putting us on track to reach our target. In order to maximize our efforts, we’re taking steps where possible to reorganize our supply base to focus on those suppliers who provide traceability, particularly in Malaysia where we have refinery assets.
• We have also officially published our grievance process to provide a transparent, open, and predictable process for dealing with complaints and issues. Any grievance, complaint or concern from external parties concerning the implementation of Cargill’s palm oil supply chain commitments may be submitted in writing, online or by phone via Cargill’s secure Ethics Open Line system.
• As the forest fires in Indonesia have persisted, the well-being of our employees and the local community remains a top priority. We have been providing regular updates of our hotspot maps on our Indonesia website (www.cargill.co.id) and we believe in being transparent and holding ourselves accountable to our stakeholders. We have provided firefighting assistance to the local government to manage fires outside our boundaries that are often spread by embers from some distance away. Cargill has a strict zero-burning policy and does not condone burning of land for any means. Any violations of our policy will be immediately addressed in accordance with our Policy on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Cargill has been working toward sustainable palm oil since 2004, when we joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). In July 2014, we published an updated palm oil policy, reaffirming our commitment to build a traceable and transparent palm oil supply chain. We continue to work with customers, suppliers, governments, NGOs, smallholders and other stakeholders to achieve our goals.