New Delhi — 25 September 2025 — APOA, the CPOPC and Solidaridad today announced a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to deepen producer and consumer collaboration and accelerate sustainability across the palm oil value chain. Signed in Mumbai, the MOU creates a formal platform to harmonise approaches, address market volatility and strengthen inclusion of smallholders, with a special focus on India and South Asia.
“At a time when food security and price stability are front of mind for families and businesses across South Asia, this partnership gives producers and consumers a formal table to strengthen collaboration and foster mutual understanding in addressing shared challenges.”— Atul Chaturvedi, Chairman, APOA
A partnership built for resilience, fairness and inclusion
Under this MoU, with CPOPC serving as a catalyst and advocate for sustainable palm oil, the Parties will pursue practical alignment and mutual recognition among national sustainability frameworks including Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO), Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) and Indian Palm Oil Sustainability (IPOS) Framework while fully respecting each country’s laws and regulatory competencies. The collaboration also prioritises regenerative practices.
To strengthen stability and predictability of supply for more than 1.5 billion consumers in South Asia, the Parties will promote traceable, smallholder-inclusive and NDPE-compliant (No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation) sourcing, with pilots that use Solidaridad’s SoliTrace traceability tool and complementary remote-sensing tools to enable mill-to-market visibility. The MoU also provides for importer-facing dashboards tailored to Indian buyers.The Parties also agreed to create a Joint Working Group co-chaired by APOA and CPOPC, with Solidaridad as the Technical Secretariat. The group will oversee workplans, monitor progress and coordiate joint communications and advocacy efforts.
Leaders’ statements
“By working with producing countries, we can build informed awareness that encourages responsible choices and strengthens health outcomes, economic resilience and environmental stewardship.” said Dr B. V. Mehta, Executive Director, Solvent Extractors’ Association of India. “This initiative will help Indian and South Asian consumers to have a clear, evidence- based information on palm oil’s nutritional profile, its role in keeping edible oils affordable, and the progress producers are making to protect forests and support smallholders.”
“This collaboration signals our collective commitment to a responsible palm oil production and consumption for a long-term market confidence,” said Izzana Salleh, Secretary General of CPOPC. “CPOPC bridges the gap between producers and consumer markets by upholding fair-trade principles and evidence-based dialogue. We call for alignment with nationally mandated sustainability frameworks and guarantee that smallholders’ livelihoods remain integral to every solution.”
“Consumers in India and across South Asia deserve edible oils that are affordable, traceable and responsibly produced,” said Dr. Shatadru Chattopadhayay, Managing Director, Solidaridad Asia. “Our role is to ensure that sustainability is practical for producers and meaningful for buyers. By bringing credible data, smallholder support and market insight to this partnership, we will help build confidence across the supply chain and deliver benefits that reach farmers and consumers alike.”
Why it matters
- Stable supply and market confidence: Coordinated producer–consumer dialogue will address price volatility, logistics shocks, and policy risks that affect edible-oil availability in India and neighbouring markets. The partnership also foresees joint advocacy for fair, non-discriminatory recognition of national standards in international forums.
- Sustainability with inclusion: The Parties will expand training on climate-smart and regenerative practices, strengthen farmer organisations and facilitate access to finance so that smallholders can meet market requirements and benefit from better incomes.
- Traceability and trust: Practical pilots will scale digital traceability, define chain-of- custody rules and build buyer-facing dashboards for verification of NDPE and standard compliance.
- Policy coherence: The Partners will coordinate positions for global platforms and develop options for Indian public procurement to reference minimum sustainability criteria, promoting clarity for industry and consumers in global trade discussions, and preventing discriminatory practices.
APOA, the apex body that convenes vegetable-oil associations from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal under the umbrella of India’s Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA), will represent the interests of Asia’s major consumer markets. SEA presently hosts APOA’s secretariat in Mumbai. CPOPC, the intergovernmental organisation of palm oil producing countries founded by Indonesia and Malaysia and joined by other producer nations, will lead on producer priorities.
Solidaridad will serve as the technical sustainability partner. Solidaridad will act as the bridge across the partnership, providing technical support on standards alignment, digital traceability and smallholder inclusion, with a focus on evidence-based, data-driven solutions such as SoliTrace.