IndoAgri/IndoFood/Salim Group

IndoAgri is a listed company headquartered in Singapore, with business activities spanning the entire oil and fats supply chain. Indoagri is a member of the RSPO from 2007.

The RSPO case tracker that is related to:
a) PT PP London Indonesia Tbk can be found here and here.
b) PT Gunta Samba can be found here.

IndoAgri’s corporate website can be found here.

1) Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Indonesian Labour Rights Association (OPPUK) and International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF) report titled, “The Human Cost of Conflict Palm Oil” (08 June 2016)

2) RSPO complaint submitted by RAN, OPPUK and ILRF (11 October 2016)

3) Greenpeace Palm Oil  Alert (23 May 2017)

4) Mighty Earth report titled, “Rapid Response Report 1” (17 November 2017) sent to us directly via email.

5) Mighty Earth report titled, “Rapid Response Report 2” (23 December 2017), sent to us directly via email.

6) Greenpeace report titled, “Deforestation case studies” (December 2017) sent to us directly via email.

7) Aidenvironment report titled, “Palm Oil Sustainability Assessment of Salim-related companies in Borneo peat forests” (11 April 2018), commissioned by Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Rainforest Foundation Norway and SumofUs.

8) Accreditation Services International (ASI) final report on PT SAI Global Indonesia, based on a compliance assessment conducted at PT. PP London Sumatra Indonesia’s estate. (April 2018)

9) Greenpeace report titled, “Final Countdown: Now or Never to Reform the Palm Oil Industry” (19 September 2018)

(1), (2) RAN, OPPUK, and ILRF published a report highlighting two plantations owned by IndoAgri with these issues: child labour, worker exposure to highly hazardous pesticides, payment below minimum wage, long-term reliance on temporary labour to fill core jobs and the use of company-backed unions. RAN, OPPUK, and ILRF lodged as RSPO complaint case on 8 June 2016.

(3) Additionally, Greenpeace said that the Group’s loose structure of other Palm Oil companies has the following issues: deforestation which includes peatlands and High Conservation Value (HCV) forests.

(4) Alleged ownership ties of PT Bintuni Agro Prima Perkasa (PT BAPP) to the Salim Group, of which the former allegedly deforested 138 hectares of peat and peat forests in Papua’s Sorong Province from October 2016 to August 2017.

(5) Alleged deforestation by companies with alleged ties to IndoAgri.

(6) Alleged deforestation of 1,900 hectares of forest, mostly on Peatland between July 2015 and October 2017 by PT Duta Rendra Mulya (PT DRM) in West Kalimantan.

(7) Alleged clearance and drainage of the Ketungau peat swamp, in Sintang district West Kalimantan, by PT Duta Rendra Mulya (PT DRM) and PT Sawit Khatulistiwa Lestari (PT SKL), majority-owned and/or associated with Mr Anthoni Salim, despite new government regulations, and the sustainability policies adopted by associate subsidiaries of the Salim Group.

(8) The report highlighted non-compliances.

We discussed with IndoAgri on its progress and action plan. We will continue to encourage our supplier and monitor the situation to review progress and implementation of IndoAgri’s sustainability commitments.

June 2016
We encouraged IndoAgri to find a resolution following its RSPO commitments and the advice of RSPO.

October 2016
Our senior management had a meeting with IndoAgri and asked IndoAgri to continue its efforts to comply with the RSPO system, follow RSPO’s complaint mechanism and engage all stakeholders in reviewing the situation and seeking a possible course of action. We will continue to engage and discuss the implementation of its action plan.

March 2017
We have been engaging with more stakeholders including NGOs and our buyers in seeking ways to address the issues and reflect on an action plan.

April 2017
We met with IndoAgri to get an update on the resolution of the complaint. IndoAgri informed us that SAI Global had conducted a Special Audit (Ground Verification) Report in early November 2016 to reassess the non-conformities as identified by Accreditation Services International (ASI) earlier in July 2016.

The RSPO Complaints Panel will re-examine the case against IndoAgri’s PT Gunta Samba Jaya / PT SIMP in a request filed by Greenpeace.

July 2017
We reached out to the RSPO regarding the case.

November 2017
We reached out to the RSPO again on the progress of the case.

Mid-November 2017
We made contact, in attempt to first understand and ascertain the relationship between PT BAPP and Salim Group.

January 2018
We made contact again with IndoAgri to check on its relationship with the companies mentioned in the December 2017 Mighty Earth Rapid Response report.

February 2018
We invite all stakeholders, especially RSPO members to join us in urging both the RSPO and IndoAgri in prioritising the handling of this case, and to conclude on the matter, particularly for both parties to:

• Communicate publicly on the progress of the case (Highlighted issues, steps taken to investigate and verify the validity of the complaint, remedial actions undertaken, correspondence to and by both complainant and complainee), in a transparent manner that enables stakeholders to be aware of the circumstances, and understand the complexities (if any) and hence the protracted time requirements in the resolution of the case.
• Draft and abide by a time-bound action plan towards resolving this case, including the planned field verification by RSPO, and post-verification plans on revisions to internal policies and processes, based on the results.
• Post-Verification: Publish a comprehensive report based on the results of the independent field verification, complete with management response from IndoAgri and remedial action plans.
• Provide an open channel of communication with all stakeholders to address queries, and explore the possibility of multi-stakeholder collaborations in human rights and labour related aspects as a pathway to improvements to its internal policies and processes.

March 2018
We met with the senior management of IndoAgri.

April 2018
We are reaching out to IndoAgri on an action plan and will follow up with the Group on implementation milestones to demonstrate compliance with our policy commitments.

May 2018
We met with IndoAgri and asked them to comply with the request for verification. They will be undergoing independent verification by RSPO in June 2018.

August 2018
Our last purchase date was in August 2018.

September 2018
Musim Mas published a temporary cessation in a business relationship. More details can be found in the official statement here.

July 2016
ASI conducted a ground verification and published a report to investigate the allegations made in the report RAN published on 08 June 2016.

October 2016
The RSPO Complaint Panel has updated the complaint with status Box C – Panel Convened.

December 2016 – February 2017
Lodged on the RSPO case tracker, RSPO facilitated the complaint between IndoAgri and complainant (RAN, OPPUK, IRLF). IndoAgri has submitted all required reports and is prepared to have a meeting with RSPO and the complainant to find a resolution.

February 2017
IndoAgri launched a Sustainability Policy on its website.

April 2017
IndoAgri has written to the RSPO Complaints Panel and submitted the report for further evaluation. As quoted from the letter to RSPO dated 27 January 2017, SAI Global’s special audit recommended that PT London Sumatera Indonesia Tbk’s Gunung Malayu mill can continue as a producer of RSPO certified crude Palm Oil and Palm Oil kernel identity preserved (IP) model. IndoAgri is currently awaiting further directions from the RSPO Complaints Panel to continue the review, together with the stakeholders for a better resolution.

August 2017
The RSPO Complaints Panel is studying evidence on Greenpeace’s request to re-examine the case.

September 2017
The RSPO complaints panel will review the independent report commissioned by London Sumatera, before it initiates any further on-site investigations. In the meantime, we await the outcome of RSPO’s review before deliberating on the next course of engagement.

Mid-November 2017
IndoAgri has conveyed that PT BAPP is not part of the Salim Group/Indofood Group of companies.

On the labour complaint by RAN, OPPUK and ILRF, the RSPO Complaints Panel wrote to Lonsum to request for a written commitment that there will be no reprisals or threats against the workers for taking part in the investigations.

The RSPO Complaints Panel further decided that anonymity or persons interviewed and confidentiality to be respected and included in the Rules of Engagement; for all RSPO documents and process related to the investigations to be publicly available; A ground verification to be conducted; a Terms of Reference (TOR), and Rules of Engagement to be agreed by the parties and translated to Bahasa, and for the inputs of the complainants to input on the English draft as well.

December 2017
The RSPO published updates on its website case tracker on proceeding with an independent field verification, subject to the formal acceptance of the condition of ‘no intimidation and no reprisal’ of workers who participate in the field verification, by IndoAgri.

January 2018
Indofood conveyed that (i) they have no ownership links with the companies allegedly engaging in deforestation as per the Rapid Response report; and (ii) that they are awaiting details of the RSPO verification.

February 2018
The RSPO to communicate on Terms of Reference (ToR) of the independent verification for the case.

March 2018
IndoAgri published a statement on its website.

April 2018
IndoAgri published an updated chronology of events here.

May 2018
IndoAgri published the updated chronology of events here.

IndoAgri sent a ‘Non-Reprisal’ to the RSPO confirming that there will be no intimidation of the workers nor the complainants in the case. The full document can be found here. 

It also confirmed the dates of the independent verification by RSPO in June 2018. RSPO published the updated status here.

June 2018
IndoAgri posted an official statement on the grievance case on its corporate website here, providing an update on the independent labour audit commissioned by RSPO.

July 2018
The independent verification by the RSPO has completed on 8 June 2018. The report is being scrutinised by the RSPO Complaints Panel.

November 2018
RSPO Complaints Panel released a public announcement on its decision on the case here.

December 2018
IndoAgri published their response to the grievance case, which can be found here.

January 2019
RSPO Complaints Panel issued a warning letter to IndoAgri and gave them a deadline by 18 January 2019 to submit an action plan.

IndoAgri published an official letter to RSPO, dated 21 January 2019 to withdraw from the RSPO Certification Scheme.

RSPO CEO’s responded to IndoAgri’s letter of withdrawal, dated 23 January 2019, wishing clarifications on their interpretation of withdrawal as a withdrawal from RSPO membership versus RSPO certification were different. RSPO stated that Salim Group is a member of RSPO and not IndoAgri, and their letter to withdraw from RSPO would be made void, and status quo of formal relations would be maintained should there be a lack of response from IndoAgri. The letter can be found here.

IndoAgri published the updated chronology of events here.

RAN released a statement on IndoAgri’s plans to withdraw from RSPO, which can be found here.

RAN, OPPUK and ILRF submitted a notice of appeal to RSPO Complaints Panel, dated 29 January 2019 urging RSPO to enhance the sanctions imposed by the Complaints Panel by suspending membership status and all RSPO certification of Lonsum and its parent company Salim Group, until corrective measures are taken.

February 2019
Complaints Panel’s notice to IndoAgri, dated 04 February 2019, to suspend the “sustainability” certificates of IndoAgri. The notice can be found here.

RAN published their statement on their website with reference to RSPO’s suspension of IndoAgri’s certificates. They urged RSPO to suspend IndoAgri’s RSPO membership until all labour abuses have been addressed.

IndoAgri posted a statement, dated 08 February 2019 on their website to announce the official withdrawal of PT PP London Sumatra Indonesia Tbk from RSPO membership.

March 2019
RSPO released a statement on the termination of IndoAgri’s / Salim Group’s membership of the RSPO. Full statement can be read here.