Today the Indofood subsidiary Salim Ivomas announced its plans to withdraw its membership from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). This move from Salim Ivomas follows the same action taken by its subisdiary Lonsum a few weeks ago, and marks the latest episode of an ongoing saga with Indofood and its subsidiaries after over twenty violations of the RSPO’s standard and 10 violations of Indonesian labor law were found in a RSPO investigation. Rather than comply with the sanctions issued by the RSPO following the investigations, Indofood and its subsidiaries are pulling out of the certification scheme. The investigation of Indofood’s palm oil plantations was sparked by a complaint against the company, brought by Rainforest Action Network (RAN), International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) and Indonesian labor rights organization OPPUK, in October 2016.
“This latest move from Indofood and its subsidiaries shows the company’s true colors,” said Robin Averbeck, Agribusiness Campaign Director with Rainforest Action Network (RAN). “It is absurd that a company of this size, with this standing in the marketplace, is attempting to avoid the well-documented labor abuses that are happening on its own plantations by pulling their RSPO membership. Any company still doing business with Indofood following this fiasco is signing off on illegal and unethical behavior.”