1. RSPO Group Smallholders Scheme
Agung Prawoto-BIOCert Indonesia

2. Introduction
Joint certification of a group of oil palm growers with the certification applying to the whole group.
Smallholders can organize themselves into groups, apply standard good practices uniformly and apply for (group) certification with the RSPO P&C for Independent Smallholders.

3. Key Elements of GCS
Group certification standard [RSPO P&C for Independent Smallholders]  These set out the requirements to be met for certification.
Accreditation requirements for group certification the approval mechanisms for CB to ensure that the certification body which awards the group certificate is competent and capable, produce credible and consistent results.
Group certification requirements the processes for evaluating a set of requirements (Group Certification Requirements) has been met, usually carried out by a certification body.

4. What is Group Certification?
Smallholder's group certification implies that:
A central body that ensures the group adopts Standard / common practices and manages an Internal Control System [ICS] a self-organized cooperative/farmers’ association, an individual or government agency.
All small farms with their production and handling activities adopted are certified as a group, not individually.

5. The group members operate under contractual or binding requirements specifying their commitment to the standard and permit assessment.
The ICS maintains files on all group members and assesses their individual operation at least once every year. A list of the members is available. The group through the ICS mechanism decides on the standards to comply with. Non-compliances are dealt with according to set procedures and sanctions

6. Who Is Eligible For Group Certification?
The members grow oil palm, sometimes along with subsistence production of other crops, where the family provides the majority of labor and the farm provides the principal source of income and where the planted area of oil palm is usually below 50 hectares in size
Group has the capacity to control and evaluate all members – and that this includes communicating and visiting them at the required frequencies
The group has adequate resources to support an impartial entity to manage a viable internal control system objectively and independently, and fulfills at least a batch of CPO production in the mill.
FFB from the individual members of the group are traded as a group and not individually.
The group has and implements a system of traceability that allows monitoring of the flow of certified products.

7. Models of Groups Model 1: Membership groups or farms organization.
An organization which members are independent smallholders. The organization can be cooperative or association of smallholders. Such an organization will have its internal administration and ICS management, including internal assessments and marketing certified FFB. A specialization is the provision of technical support and training to members and facilitating their adoption of the standard. An Independent outgrower can join in the group.
Certificate type: Certified FFB

8. Model 2: Collected independent outgrowers.
Independent outgrowers who collaborate to obtain certification as a group. The outgrower organization administers itself with ICS management, conducting internal assessments and marketing certified FFB.
Certificate type: Certified FFB

9. Model 3. Federation of groups
Corporations, associations, unions and other producer groups can come together to form a federation. The federation conducts group activities, such as CPO mill, training, administration, technical support, organizational management for smallholders groups to fulfill the standard, acting as the ICS manager.
There can be different versions of this model. For example, the member organizations can be certified individually and, in their own right, be ICS managers. The federation then merely services its members such in product marketing or technical support, and does not function as the ICS manager.
Certificate type: Certified CPO or Certified FFB.

10. Group Certification Requirements
Producer organizations can obtain RSPO certification if they comply with the standard and all the Group Certification Requirements.
Element to be assessed
Standard of compliance
Member farms of the group
RSPO P&C for Independent Smallholders
ICS Unit
RSPO Group Certification Requirements

11. Type of RSPO certificate for group certification:
Certified FFB: FFB from a certified smallholders group. An association or organization of the smallholders holds the certificate and organizes the ICS, i.e., the association / organization the ICS.

12. RSPO GROUP CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT
1. Forming a group for certification
1.1. Compliance with the Standard: All farms must comply with the Standard.
1.2. ICS unit of the producer organization: The ICS unit of the producer organization must demonstrate its capacity for managing the farm certification and performance assessment against the RSPO Group Certification Requirement and Standard.

13. 2. Internal Control System
2.1. ICS structure and content: The ICS must have operational structure drawn out, and the policies and procedures, and basic information on the individual farms documented. The system verifies whether operation of the farms comply with the RSPO Group Certification Requirement and Standard
2.2. Internal assessment system: The ICS must be internally assessed by trained assessors for its evaluation of individual farms for compliance with the RSPO Group Certification Requirement and Standard.
2.3. Training for members and ICS personnel regularly.

14. 3. TRACEABILITY
It is important that products with RSPO certification only come from farms that have been certified. The ICS unit must have a system for preventing mixing of certified and uncertified products (FFB) from the farm to the mill. Products certified by RSPO are preferably marketed by the producers' organization.