MSPO CERTIFICATION RATE FOR OIL PALM ESTATES REACHES 90 PER CENT - NORAINI

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) --  About 90 per cent of estates in the palm oil sector have obtained the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification, while independent smallholders have reached 85 per cent, said Minister of Plantation and Commodities Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad.

She said the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has provided full grant assistance to smallholders to enable them to obtain the certification. “The government is fully committed to meeting the requirements of the European Union Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR), not only for the palm oil sector but also for all other commodities,” she said when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address for the ministry at the Dewan Rakyat today.

To support traceability systems, which are one of the key components of the EUDR, she said the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities (KPK) is in the final stages of developing the National Traceability System (SKN).

“It is an integrated system that combines existing systems under KPK to support compliance with EUDR regulations and future global sustainability requirements. The SKN is expected to be fully implemented by March 2026,” she said, while stressing that the three main systems forming the core of the SKN are the Sawit Intelligent Management System (SIMS), GeoSawit, and e-MSPO.

SIMS is an MPOB system that records licensing information and supply chain transaction data from plantations to the port of exit. The second system, GeoSawit, maps the exact location and polygon boundaries of smallholder plots and estates, including deforestation monitoring as required by the EUDR. The third system, e-MSPO, displays the latest MSPO certification status and related information.

“Through the SKN, every Malaysian palm oil supply chain will have complete geolocation data for estates and smallholders, including deforestation monitoring, ownership information and valid MPOB licence holders, MSPO certification and audit status, digital transaction records between suppliers and mills, and data traceability from plantation to final product,” she added.

In addition, Noraini informed that to date, the total area of licensed oil palm cultivation nationwide stands at about 5.7 million hectares.

She said the government is now focusing efforts on increasing national palm oil production yields through strategic approaches that emphasise productivity improvements, including the implementation of targeted replanting programmes such as the Oil Palm Smallholder Replanting Programme 2.0 (TSPKS 2.0).

For the pepper sector, she said the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) encourages farmers to focus on producing premium pepper, such as the ‘Export Quality Pepper’ and the ‘Creamy White Pepper,’ which can fetch prices of up to RM65,000 per metric tonne in the market.

-- BERNAMA