Cargill continues trade with questionable palm oil supplier
US largest food group, Cargill, refuses to stop buying palm oil from Indonesian Sinar Mas group, which is accused of illegal deforestation. Burger King joins Nestle and others in criticising these illegal activities.
Nestle, Kraft, Unilever and Burger King have stopped trading with the Sinar Mas group after an independent audit of its operations found it broke Indonesian law by clearing land before any assessment had been made of its conservation value.
Burger King this week said the practices of Sinar Mas and its impact on the rainforest were not in line with their corporate responsibility commitments.
Sinar Mas has also been accused of trying to cover-up the critical report by initially claiming it cleared them of destroying peatlands or forests of high conservation value in Indonesia.
However, Cargill said it was encouraged by the group’s commitment to ‘taking corrective actions and to strengthening its standard operating procedures’.
It also says it is aiming to buy 60% of its palm oil from Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified growers by 2010.
Sinar Mas is currently aiming for all its existing growers to become a RSPO certified by 2015.
Greenpeace announced that Carrgill would now become the focus of its campaigning against the illegal forest and peatland clearance undertaken by Sinar Mas.
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