RSPO suspension of IOI Group's certification lifted

PETALING JAYA: The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) suspension on IOI Corp Bhd's certification will be lifted from today.
The news which came out on Friday, saw IOI's share price gain 22 sen or 5% to close at RM4.45 with some 16.8 million shares changing hands.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, IOI said it received a letter from RSPO on Aug 5 informing it that the RSPO board of governors had endorsed the recommendation made by the complaints panel to lift the suspension of RSPO certifications for the entire IOI group.
"The CP is satisfied that IOI group has met the conditions set out in its letter to the company dated March 14, 2016, based on the actions that IOI group has taken and implemented since then," it noted.
Nonetheless, IOI said it will continue to submit its quarterly progress report as mandated by the complaints panel.
At the end of a 12-month period, the panel will again commission an independent ground verification by a team of experts, following which a review of the complaint will be undertaken by the panel, it added.
IOI received notification last March on the suspension of its RSPO certifications due to complaints against its Indonesian subsidiaries' plantation estates, which accounted for about 2% of the group's annual crude palm oil production.
The initial suspension of IOI's RSPO certificates took effect from April 1 this year.
In a bid to overturn the suspension decision, IOI then submitted a five-step action plan, including the preparation of a legal register detailing all relevant Indonesian legislation; regulations and guidelines related to the development and operations of palm oil plantations.
RSPO is a world body that was formed to promote the use and growth of sustainable palm oil.