Palm oil plays a big role as an important and versatile raw material for both food and non-food industries, which contributes to the economic development of the producing countries and the diets of million of people around the world. Statistic data presented that vegetable oil production around the world total 95 millions tones per year of which over 28 million tones are produced by the oil palm, the world second largest oil crop after soy soil. Palm oil is very common cooking ingredient in the region where it is produced.

Palm oil production is a basic source of income for many of the world's rural poor in South East Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America. An estimated 1.5 million small farmers grow the crop in Indonesia, whereas about 0.5 million people are directly employed in the sector in Malaysia. There are environmental pressures on palm oil expansion to eco-sensitive areas, particularly as palm oil can only be cultivated in tropical areas of Asia, Africa and South America. It is vital that production and use of palm oil must be done in a sustainable manner based on economic, social and environmental viability.

Damage to peatland, partly due to palm oil production, is claimed to contribute to environmental degradation, including four percent of global greenhouse gas emission and eight person of all global emission caused annually by burning fossil fuels, due to the large areas of rainforest that area cleared to make way for palm oil plantations.


Therefore, looking at the high demand on palm oil of the world industries, a standard for Sustainable Palm Oil was introduced through the establishment of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in April 2004. These are to meet the costumer's requirement on having palm oil products that contain non-hydrogenated solid vegetables fats, as consumers now demand fewer hydrogenated oils in food products that were previously high in trans fat content.