Yesterday, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) held a short webinar to refresh its Malaysian members on labour rights defined under its Principles and Criteria 2018 (P&C 2018).
One of the important points RSPO reminded its members about was the scope of Criterion 2.1 under the P&C 2018, which compels its members to observe “all applicable local, national, and ratified international laws and regulations.” The Criterion states that all members are to comply with “laws made pursuant to a country’s obligations under international laws or conventions,” such as the ILO Core Conventions and the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It also reminded members that “where countries have provisions to respect customary law, these will be taken into account.”
In the context of labour rights in Malaysia, standards like the ILO’s Forced Labour Convention would be highly relevant.
During the Q&A, RSPO clarified that its certification process will be only audited against RSPO standards.