Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 44 of 2020 — Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) Certification System

Presidential Regulation (Peraturan Presiden, Perpres) No. 44 of 2020, issued by the President of Indonesia, establishes the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification system. It requires all oil palm plantation businesses — both plantation companies and individual or grouped smallholders — to meet sustainability principles and criteria. It covers application procedures, the institutional setup of ISPO certification bodies, and administrative sanctions for violations. It was later amended by Perpres No. 16 of 2025, which extended ISPO to the downstream and bioenergy sectors. Its implementing rules are set out in Permentan No. 38 of 2020.

Key points

• ISPO certification is mandatory for oil palm cultivation businesses, oil palm produce processing businesses, and businesses integrating both.
• ISPO assessment covers seven principles: compliance with laws and regulations, good plantation practices, management of the environment, natural resources and biodiversity, labour responsibility, social responsibility and community economic empowerment, transparency, and continuous improvement of sustainable business.
• Certification is carried out by ISPO certification bodies that must be accredited by the National Accreditation Committee (KAN) and registered with the ministry responsible for plantations, with mandatory annual surveillance and periodic reporting to the ISPO Committee.
• An ISPO certificate is valid for 5 (five) years.
• Businesses that breach the certification obligation face graduated administrative sanctions: written warning, fine, temporary suspension of business, freezing of the certificate, and revocation of the ISPO certificate.
• ISPO certification bodies that fail to report may receive a written warning or be removed from the list of certification bodies, and may have their accreditation frozen or revoked by KAN.

Who it affects

Oil palm plantation companies, individual and grouped smallholders, and ISPO certification bodies.