YB Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities officiated the MSPO Appreciation Day which was held at the Le Meridian Putrajaya.
This event was attended by more than 200 representatives from the oil palm plantations, smallholders, millers and stakeholders from the palm oil industry. During this event, eight (8) plantation companies that obtained Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification were awarded certificates of appreciation. The companies are JC Chang (Pte) Limited, TDM Berhad, KLK Berhad, Hap Seng Plantations Holding Berhad, Keresa Plantations Sdn. Bhd., Sabah Softwoods Berhad, Achi Jaya Plantations Sdn. Bhd. and Sime Darby Plantation Berhad. In the case of smallholders, 49 Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOCs) from Sarawak, Sabah, Johor, Perak, Melaka, Selangor, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan also received their certificates of appreciation.
The MSPO Certification Scheme was implemented on a voluntary basis since 2015. Beginning May 2017, the Government has agreed to mandate all growers and processing facilities to obtain MSPO certification by December 2019. As of end February 2018, a total of 758,923 hectares of oil palm planted area has been certified which is an increase of 210% from the day its announcement. Also 70 mills have been MSPO certified. This includes 49 clusters of independent smallholders with a planted area of 9,521 hectares, 7 clusters of organised smallholders with a planted area of 19,110 hectares and 260 estates with a planted area of 730,292 hectares. In addition, 70 mills with a capacity of 4,000 metric tonnes per hour has been certified.