Sustainable Palm Oil
Sourcing Policy
Incorporating No Deforestation, No Peat & No Exploitation NDPE
Agritrade Co Ltd Responsible Palm Oil Policy
Introduction and Scope
Palm oil is a crucial edible oil that offers job opportunities, empowers communities, and supports livelihoods. On one hand, it is known to be one of the most cost-effective oilseed crops as it has the highest yield per hectare while using the least area compared to other vegetable oil crops. On the other hand, the production of palm oil has revealed undeniable concerns over human rights abuse and exploitation of the local communities and lands.
To help address and recognize these challenges, Agritrade is committed to supplying palm oil responsibly by safeguarding the environment and supporting the communities living and working in palm oil plantations. Agritrade believes all agricultural supply chains should be environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial to local communities.
This policy is applicable as of April 1, 2021, to all purchasing operations and we expect all our third-party suppliers of oil palm products and their derivatives to adhere to these commitments in their operations. Agritrade will work to ensure that our third-party suppliers comply with our policy and Agritrade will only source through a transparent and traceable network
Our Commitments
To achieve our long-term commitments for a sustainable palm oil industry, we aim to ensure a transparent, traceable, and responsible supply chain by adopting no deforestation, no peatland planting, and no exploitation of local communities and workers in palm oil plantations.
Agritrade’s commitment is further explained in the following core items:
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1. Compliance
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1.1. Legal Compliance
Agritrade abides by all domestic and international legislations and existing industry best practices in its operations and sourcing of palm oil. We expect our third-party suppliers to adhere to national legislation including compliance with national certification requirement, if any.
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1.2. RSPO
Agritrade stands out as the only supplier with the Sustainable Palm Oil Roundtable (RSPO) certificate in Turkey and has been a member of RSPO since 2016.
We are enthusiastic about engaging and maintaining a dialogue with our business associates, clients, and wider stakeholders to achieve the mutual goal of responsible and sustainable palm oil procurement.
We are committed to engaging our suppliers to implement RSPO best practices and standards within their operations. We will work to strengthen the RSPO standard and its enforcement. -
2. Environmental Responsibility
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2.1. No Deforestation
Agritrade will not knowingly source palm oil from plantations established on areas of significant environmental or cultural importance as of 1 April 2021. These include High Conservation Value (HCV) areas and High Carbon Stock (HCS) forests as assessed under accepted methodologies.
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2.2. No Peat
Agritrade will not accept any new development on peatland regardless of depth. On existing peat plantations, best management practices for peat plantations must be implemented, preferably in accordance with the RSPO BMP Manual on Peat.
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2.3. Zero Exploitation
We expect our suppliers to follow the United Nations Global Compact Principles on Business and Human Rights section of which Agritrade is a proud member.
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2.4. Zero Burning
Agritrade will not accept the use of fire / burning in oil palm production.
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3. Social Responsibility
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3.1. Human Rights
Agritrade is committed to respect and protect human rights. The rights of all workers regardless of their gender, ethnicity, nationality, and religion are all of equal importance and the elimination of discrimination in employment, promotion of equal rights will strictly not be tolerated.
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3.2. Indigenous and Local Communities
Agritrade recognizes and respects the rights of indigenous and local communities to give or withhold their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) to operations on lands to which they hold legal, communal, or customary rights. In line with this, we will not knowingly source from areas developed after 1 April 2021 that have not undergone a FPIC process with indigenous and local communities.
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3.3. Fair Labor
Agritrade is against the use of child labor, forced or bonded labor in its operations and its third-party suppliers. Agritrade believes that workers should have access to a grievance mechanism, be paid at least the legal minimum wages, have access to passports, identification cards, personal documents and belongings, be provided with fair contracts, access to freedom of association, and decent work and living conditions.
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3.4. Health and Safety
Agritrade shows zero tolerance to harassment in workplace; and asks its suppliers and business partners to ensure a safe and secure working environment for their workers.
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4. Engagement and Inclusivity
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4.1. Supplier Engagement
Agritrade will engage with the key suppliers to fulfil the commitments and policies. This will include verification and monitoring of grievances, policy compliance, and supplier progress towards meeting our responsible sourcing policy.
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4.2. Client Engagement
Agritrade is committed to share the sustainability mechanisms for improvement with our clients.
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4.3. Smallholders
Agritrade is committed to supporting the inclusion of smallholders in the supply base. In line with this, Agritrade will support actions and programs among associates to increase capacity for smallholders. In addition, for non-complaint smallholders, Agritrade will quit buying from them; yet will still ask them to fulfil the requirements and encourage them to abide by the globally recognized requirements.
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5. Transparent and Traceable Supply Chain
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5.1. Traceability
Agritrade is committed to a transparent and traceable supply chain.
Agritrade will work with its suppliers to achieve full traceability to mill by 2023.
Agritrade will engage with suppliers to disclose data on traceability to plantation. -
5.2. Grievances
Agritrade highlights the importance of a transparent grievance mechanism to report incompliances and a process to resolve complaints within the supply base. We will work with relevant parties to resolve complaints and conflicts through an open, transparent and consultative process in a timely manner. The grievance mechanism will be detailed in Grievance Procedure.
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5.3. Continuous Improvement
In the evolving global market, Agritrade strives to continuously improve itself to meet the standards and expectations of its stakeholders while at the same time making a positive impact on our planet. In order to demonstrate its improvements, Agritrade commits to publishing annual progress reports towards achieving the commitments.
We will continue to improve the policies and engage in a constant review and improvement process. As new requirements are implemented, Agritrade will adjust and improve our policies in ways that are consistent with our overall sustainability commitments of protecting forests, peat lands, indigenous and local communities, and human rights.
Grievance Procedure
As Agritrade, we support and protect the rights of workers, landowners, indigenous people, and local communities. We encourage and support the responsible acquisition and management of land, and implement best-practice environmental standards which include policies of no deforestation, no peat, and no exploitation.
How it Works
This Grievance Procedure has been established for Agritrade to address grievances from parties, including individuals, government organizations, and non-governmental organizations concerning the implementation of AGT’s No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) Policy. We recognize that providing this feedback mechanism for stakeholders is important because it helps in the monitoring of compliance with Agritrade’s NDPE policy throughout our operations and supply chain.
The Grievance Procedure also promotes transparency and accountability, through disclosure of our full list of grievances, with updates on our actions to address them.
Grievances can be submitted through any of the following channels:
By Email To
By Telephone To
In Writing To
Agritrade Co Ltd Cumhuriyet Bulvarı No 109/79 – 35210, Konak İzmir
Attention:
Agritrade Sustainability Department (Grievance Coordinator)
Grievances should include the provision of the following information:
Responding to Grievance
If the grievance raiser submits her/his request to Agritrade, the company will conclude the relevant process within thirty days at the latest, depending on the nature of the request.
Agritrade may request more information from the grievance raiser in order to clarify the issues in the application.
Non-Compliance
In case of the non-compliance and unwillingness of the supplier to support the grievance, Agritrade will quit buying from them; yet will still ask them to fulfill the requirements and encourage them to abide by the globally recognized requirements.
Ineligible Grievance List
As per Agritrade’s Grievance Procedure, we aim to investigate all cases which are received. Based on the evidence received to date, the cases listed here are those that are classified as ineligible grievances and will not be further investigated.