Press Releases

Jakarta, 15 September 2011 – PT SMART Tbk (SMART) is pleased to announce that Nestlé has placed an order to resume palm oil purchases from the company. SMART views this order as an acknowledgement of its on-going sustainability commitments and efforts to find solutions to continuously produce palm oil in a sustainable, environmentally and socially responsible manner.

In May 2010, Nestlé, together with international NGO, The Forest Trust (TFT) announced Responsible Sourcing Guidelines (RSGs), a set of critical requirements to guide the Nestlé procurement process and to ensure compliance with the Nestlé Supplier Code. In late 2010, SMART’s parent company Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) developed a joint action plan with TFT to help GAR ensure that its subsidiaries could meet the Nestlé RSG requirements. To ensure that oil delivered to Nestlé meets the RSG requirements, the plantations supplying Nestlé were subject to TFT assessments. SMART then implemented innovative processes and supply chain controls to ensure that the delivered oil is fully traceable from the supplying plantations, through processing and transportation to the Nestlé factory in Indonesia. This full traceability across the supply chain has been further audited by Nestlé-appointed international agency, TÜV Rheinland Group.

Mr Daud Dharsono, President Director of SMART said: “We welcome Nestle’s decision which is an acknowledgement of our sustainability efforts. This represents an important milestone in our journey toward the continuous production of sustainable palm oil. Sustainability is an on-going journey and we are committed to managing the environment responsibly and empowering communities. We believe that our achievement of full traceability with this order is another significant milestone.”

GAR has also been working with TFT on the implementation of a Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) which aims to ensure that GAR has no deforestation footprint and also seeks to achieve long-term sustainable growth for GAR and the palm oil industry. The FCP focuses on there being no development on High Carbon Stock (HCS) forests, where a provisional definition of exceeding 35 tonnes of carbon per hectare will be used as HCS forest definition; no development on High Conservation Value (HCV) forest areas; no development on peat lands; to have free, prior and informed consent from indigenous and local communities and compliance with all relevant laws and National Interpretation of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Principles and Criteria.

Added Mr Dharsono: “We believe the FCP is a strong platform where all stakeholders can collaborate to find solutions for sustainable palm oil. We would like to thank TFT, Greenpeace and all other stakeholders for their positive contributions and collaboration to implement the FCP initiative.”

In addition to the FCP and as part of a holistic approach to sustainability, GAR is developing a Yield Improvement Policy to improve its productivity. The company is also developing a Social and Community Engagement Policy to guide its approach to conflict resolution. GAR is collaborating with TFT and is in constructive dialogue with a number of other civil society organisations to ensure that it develops robust policies which represent best practice.

For further information please contact:

For Indonesia/ Singapore:
Claire Yong/ Ang Shih-Huei
Pelham Bell Pottinger Asia
Tel: (65) 6333 3449
Fax: (65) 6333 3446
Cell: (65) 9185 0761 / (65) 9189 1039
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

About PT SMART Tbk (“SMART”)

SMART is one of the largest, publicly-listed, integrated palm-based consumer companies in Indonesia with a total planted area of 137,500 hectares (including smallholders) as at 30 June 2011. It has integrated operations focused on the production of palm-based edible oil and fat.

Founded in 1962, SMART is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange since 1992. SMART is a subsidiary of Golden Agri-Resources Ltd (“GAR”), the world’s second largest palm oil plantation company which is listed on the Singapore Exchange.

SMART is focused on sustainable palm oil production. Its primary activities include cultivating and harvesting of oil palm trees, processing of fresh fruit bunch into crude palm oil (“CPO”) and palm kernel, and refining CPO into value-added products such as cooking oil, margarine and shortening.

Besides bulk and industrial oil, SMART’s refined products are also marketed under several brands such as Filma and Kunci Mas. Today, these brands have been recognised for their high quality and command significant market share in their respective segmentation in Indonesia.

SMART also manages all oil palm plantations of GAR. This relationship benefits SMART with its economies of scale in plantation management, information technology, research and development, sourcing of raw material, and access to a wide domestic and international marketing network.