KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corp Bhd said it is already committed to take action against several of the points made by environmental group Greenpeace, in relation to the alleged unsustainable practices by the planter.

In a detailed response to Greenpeace’s report entitled “A Deadly Trade-off” yesterday, IOI said it is already addressing a number of the concerns as part of its Sustainability Implementation Plan and Sustainable Palm Oil Policy (SPOP), which were announced in August.

“IOI Group would like to make clear that we are fully committed to the No Deforestation, No Planting on Peat and No Exploitation policies as stated in our SPOP.

“We believe that the ‘Stop the Haze’ campaign which claims that IOI’s deforestation has caused the haze problem in Indonesia is unhelpful and counterproductive. While there have been fires in our Indonesian developments, these were not started by IOI.

“As a company, we have been practising zero burning on all new planting and replanting activities for more than 25 years, and we are currently taking steps to jointly develop and implement — with our stakeholders — landscape approaches that contribute to effective fire prevention and mitigation as well as peat and biodiversity conservation in the immediate vicinity of our [Indonesia subsidiary] SNA developments,” said the group.

IOI also clarified that it does not source directly or has any commercial relationship with Korindo Group, Austindo Nusantara, Goodhope, Eagle High and Indofood/Salim — the suppliers named in Greenpeace’s report.

Instead, the group said the companies enter IOI’s supply chain via shipments from IOI’s direct suppliers, from which it has requested for detailed updates of their findings on the matter by end-November.

“We support our direct suppliers Wilmar International, Golden Agri-Resources, Asian Agri and Apical, and Musim Mas’ move to further engage with or stop purchasing from the named companies,” it said.

Meanwhile, in response to Greenpeace’s suggestion of suspending all contracts with the companies named in the report, IOI said the move would be ineffective based on past experiences, as this would cut off any opportunity to change the way these companies do business and ultimately comply with IOI’s commitments.

“On the other hand, when we have stayed engaged, we have managed to achieve change and real successes. We will suspend contracts with the suppliers only as a last resort measure when all attempts at engagement fail or when no demonstrable progress has been made,” said the group.

IOI said it is open to a face-to-face discussion with Greenpeace on the issues raised in the report, adding that the group is committed to exercise its influence in the palm oil industry.

“Finally, we want to reiterate that we stand by our robust Sustainable Palm Oil Policy and remain totally committed towards building a traceable, transparent and sustainable palm oil supply chain,” said the group.