RSPO-Approved Lead Auditor Training Course Organized by Proforest for Latin America

A Lead Auditor Training Course was recently organized by Proforest from 9 till 13 December 2014 in Bucaramanga, Colombia. The five day training course, which was approved by RSPO, was focused on the Latin American region and was attended by 33 representatives of oil palm growers, mills, NGOs, consultants and companies from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico.

The course was primarily designed for auditors that intend to conduct audits on palm oil producers against the RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C). It also provided the personnel responsible for implementing measures in compliance to the RSPO P&C as well as other stakeholders to have a better understanding of the RSPO P&C as a standard and system in terms of implementation, practical auditing requirements and to ensure of consistent decision-making.

Conducted by a team of qualified auditors and subject matter experts from Proforest, the outline of the course included detailed instructions, workshops, practical audit exercises, a written exam as well as a training audit that was carried out in Palmas del Cesar, an RSPO member since March 2014 with a 3,400 hectare oil palm plantation, that also receives fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from 7,600 hectares of smallholder oil palm plantations.