By Indonesian palm oil giant Indofood has announced plans to withdraw from the world’s largest palm oil certification scheme, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), in a move to avoid its responsibilities to its workers.
Indofood refused to submit a corrective action plan, as required by the RSPO in November 2018, to address worker exploitation on its subsidiary’s facilities including over twenty violations of the RSPO’s standard, as well as 10 violations of Indonesian labor law. As a result, the RSPO ordered the suspension of the “sustainability” certificates of Indofood’s subsidiary London Sumatra, and Indofood responded by declaring it will withdraw from the RSPO, leaving its workers in a vulnerable position.
Indofood is guilty of worker exploitation, rainforest destruction and habitat loss. RAN and our partners ILRF and OPPUK first revealed Indofood’s abuses more than two and a half years ago and the RSPO has failed to hold it accountable.
That’s bad news for Indofood’s joint venture partners PepsiCo, Yum! Brands, and Wilmar, and for major financiers Mizuho, Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), SMBC Group, Rabobank and Standard Chartered, and all companies still buying from and bankrolling this destructive company: they can’t pretend that the palm oil they’re dealing in is sustainable.
Joint venture partners, brands, palm oil traders and financiers must drop Indofood until it takes responsibility for its actions. Anything less proves that these companies are complicit in Indofood’s exploitation and destruction.
Here is who has yet to cut ties to this notorious company:
There is no excuse to be in business with this destructive company. It’s past time the world cuts ties to bad actors like Indofood until it cleans up its act. Send your message to Indofood’s buyers, joint venture partners, and financiers now!
