In pursuant to fulfilling sustainability commitments to ensure responsible sourcing of palm products, SOPB, Cargill, and Proforest had convened a Zoom workshop on traceability and supply chain monitoring on 26th and 27th October 2020. Sixty-two (62) representatives which comprised of sustainability personnel and operational heads from twenty-five (25) SOPB’s palm products suppliers participated. Representatives from the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC) also gave a briefing on MSPO Trace which acts as a traceability, certification and monitoring platform.
The workshop allowed the sharing of practical constraints encountered on the ground by SOPB’s suppliers in the conduct of supply chain monitoring and traceability to plantations. Participants were given a walk through on the use of Self Assessment Tool (SAT), Risk Calibrated Approach (RCA) and Global Forest Watch (GFW) as tools to perform supply chain gap analysis which is a critical step to help prioritise stakeholder engagement based on risk levels identified such as deforestation and fire risk and to carry out effective monitoring.
Through the workshop, the mutual understanding among the stakeholders had been strengthened and some capacity gaps in implementing traceability and supply chain monitoring had been identified. Presenters and participants shared their perspectives and a consensus was reached on the way forward.