Sinar Mas appointed investigator

Sinar Mas Group, an Indonesian palm oil producer that's losing customers amid allegations by Greenpeace that it destroyed rainforest areas that are a key orangutan habitat, has appointed two bodies to assess the claims.

Indonesia's biggest palm oil producer has appointed Control Union Certification and the BSI Group to investigate. The two are certification bodies approved by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

At least 18 companies together with the government are ready to fight bank negative issues recently attacking Indonesia CPO businesses.
The attack launched by international environment NGO Greenpeace is worried to lower the national CPO export volume after several big buyers terminate purchase contracts.

Some of the companies are PT Astra Agro Lestari, PT Sinarmas Agro Resources and Technology, PT London Sumatera, Wilmar, PT Musi Mas, PT Sampoerna Agro, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations, and state-owned plantation.

Stop buying

Nestle SA, the world's biggest food maker, and Unilever NV stopped buying palm oil from Sinar Mas after the Greenpeace report, decisions that were described as unfair by the Indonesia
Palm Oil Association. Cargill Inc. has also said it may stop doing business with the company if the claims are correct and it takes no action. Indonesia is the biggest palm oil producer.

Greenpeace first made the claims against Sinar Mas in an April 2008 report titled Burning up Borneo. Unilever accounted for about 3 percent of Sinar Mas palm oil sales, while Nestle made up 0.2 percent.