Third party accreditation of certification bodies (CBs) offering RSPO certification services has recently been completed. As of end of September 2014, a total of 18 CBs have been fully accredited by ASI. The updated list of the accredited CBs can be found on the ASI website. The accreditation of 18 CBs represents a significant achievement to both the RSPO and the CBs. The CBs should be congratulated for demonstrating their competence to continue to offer RSPO certification under full third party verification.
From 1st October 2014 onwards, only accredited CBs can offer certification audit for Principle & Criteria (P&C) and Supply Chain, conduct surveillance audits of existing certificates and carry out verification of new planting procedures (NPP) under the RSPO scheme. CBs which have not yet achieved accreditation can continue with the accreditation processes but will cease to conduct the aforementioned services immediately. RSPO in collaboration with ASI will provide updates if and when more CBs get accredited.
Existing certificate issued by the CBs that have yet to be accredited remains valid up to the next surveillance audit. To continue the certification status, the company must engage accredited CBs to conduct surveillance audit to allow them to maintain their certification status under RSPO certification scheme. To prevent disruption in trade of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO), RSPO will grant an automatic extension to the annual license (of the company certified by yet to be accredited CBs) expiring in October, November and December 2014. This is to allow the company to prepare themselves to be audited and certified by an accredited CB. The chart attached illustrate the process flow under different scenarios, including NPP verification. Accredited CBs will have to undergo annual accreditation audit by ASI to ensure continuous compliance and their status of compliance to RSPO scheme will be updated accordingly. New potential CBs which are interested to operate under RSPO scheme may apply to ASI and these new applicants will be subjected to the same accreditation process.
If further clarification is required, please contact RSPO Secretariat :
Mr. Salahudin Yaacob
Ms. Eileen Chiang
