KUCHING: Wilmar International Ltd (Wilmar) remains committed to supporting the growth and development of Sarawak as its ‘No deforestation, No peat, and No exploitation’ policy will not affect its purchase of palm oil from suppliers who had previously developed tracts of peatland or from smallholders and indigenous communities.

In a statement to The Borneo Post, Wilmar clarified that the new policy only applies to new areas developed after policy announcement on Dec 5, 2013.

“We’d like to reiterate that we remain committed to supporting the growth and development of Sarawak and in all other areas we operate,” they told The Borneo Post.

“With respect to smallholders and indigenous communities, we also recognise that they are a critical part of the industry, and that they face unique situations.

“We will be developing a programme in conjunction with various stakeholders to help local smallholders and farmers develop their native customary land responsibly, irrespective of whether it is peatland or not, as we understand that indigenous communities depend on this land for their livelihoods.”

The Singaporean-based agribusiness company is currently engaging with suppliers and advising them not to conduct any new peatland clearance.

“We will be ready to offer assistance in the form of technical and financial support to help these farmers towards sustainable development,” the group added.

“We recognise that issues (from environmental to social issues) do arise from time to time and that practices fluctuate in reality.

“What is important to us is the long-term commitment of suppliers to proactively address the issues. Our goal is to support our suppliers to tackle the challenges and support the development and strengthening of a responsible and sustainable industry.”

Wilmar also said it will continue to build constructive dialogues with stakeholders and industry experts to support suppliers in shifting their operations away from deforestation, peatland development and any exploitation of people and local communities.

The policy, which was declared on Dec 5 after the signing of a memorandum of understanding with global consumer goods leader Unilever, had first sparked criticisms across the state particularly from Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (Soppoa) which called it ‘discriminatory and detrimental’ to the state’s palm oil industry.

Wilmar, which operates Bintulu Edible Oil Plant in Sarawak, purchases about 1.7 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) annually from Sarawak.