Indonesia will trial voluntary green standards for palm oil producers in February, before rolling out a mandatory scheme in 2012, an agriculture ministry official said on Friday. Amid pressure from green groups to halt deforestation that speeds up global warming, the agriculture ministry said in April it planned to issue Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification to cover the entire operations of planters.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said on Friday the now complete ISPO document would be tested on between ten and 20 companies in February. At the same time, the government will hold a workshop on ISPO to local government, the private sector and NGOs. Earlier this week, the new secretary general of the RSPO, described the ISPO as "excellent" and said it would compliment the RSPO.