Read the initial assessment issued by the Swiss NCP - 31 May 2018.
Read the final statement issued by the Swiss NCP – 5 June 2019.
The Swiss NCP received a submission on 25 January 2018 from the NGO TUK Indonesia on behalf of two Indonesian Communities (Kerunang and Entapang) regarding the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The submission concerned an unsolved land conflict in Indonesia dealt with by the RSPO’s own complaint mechanism. The submitting party asked the Swiss NCP to support an elaboration of an action plan with clear deadlines between TUK Indonesia and RSPO regarding the resolution of this ongoing RSPO complaint.
On 31 May 2018, the Swiss NCP published its initial assessment and concluded that the issues raised in the submission merit further consideration and accepted the specific instance. However, as the issues in question arose in Indonesia, a non-adhering country of the OECD Guidelines, and as no operational unit of the RSPO is located in Switzerland, the Swiss NCP concluded that its degree of influence appears to be merely limited. Considering these circumstances, a classic mediation process in Switzerland led by the Swiss NCP was deemed unfeasible. Nevertheless, the Swiss NCP decided to offer its good offices to support the direct discussions between TuK and RSPO Both parties accepted the Swiss NCP’s offer of good offices.
With the Swiss NCP’s support the parties reached an agreement on the open questions, described in the final statement published on 5 June 2019. The agreement includes criteria for a fair legal review by the RSPO complaint panel and an action plan with clear deadlines. The agreement also states that the parties are committed to continue their regular exchanges until the conclusion of the pending case with the RSPO’s complaint mechanism.
The Swiss NCP will follow up on the implementation of the agreement six months after the publication of the Final Statement.