The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certifies palm oil that meets criteria on legal compliance, no deforestation of primary or high-conservation-value forest, no peatland conversion, fair worker treatment and respect for local communities.
RSPO has been criticised for weak enforcement and "mass-balance" claims that mix certified and uncertified oil. The stricter "RSPO Identity Preserved" or "Segregated" labels guarantee physical separation. For genuinely deforestation-free palm look for POIG (Palm Oil Innovation Group) on top of RSPO.
The four supply chain models, from strongest to weakest. Identity Preserved keeps oil from a single certified mill physically separate all the way to the finished product, so you know exactly which plantation it came from. Segregated keeps certified oil from multiple certified mills physically separate from conventional oil, but without single-source traceability. Mass Balance allows certified and conventional oil to be mixed in the supply chain while the volumes are tracked administratively — the product contains some certified oil, but not necessarily the amount implied. Book & Claim (RSPO Credits) involves no physical certified oil at all: a buyer purchases credits from certified growers to offset the conventional oil it uses. Most consumer goods carrying an RSPO trademark use Mass Balance or Credits, so the on-pack logo shows which model applies — check it.
What the 2018 standard tightened. The revised Principles & Criteria banned all deforestation using the High Carbon Stock Approach, banned any new planting on peat regardless of depth, required free, prior and informed consent from affected communities, strengthened protections against forced and child labour and against exploitation of migrant workers, and required a living-wage calculation for plantation workers. In 2020 RSPO added an assurance framework with unannounced audits and a formal complaints panel. These were real improvements over the 2013 rules — evidence on outcomes is genuinely mixed, with peer-reviewed studies finding certified concessions have measurably lower deforestation rates than non-certified ones, but weaker effects on fire and peat outcomes.
Why "palm oil free" is usually the wrong answer. Oil palm yields roughly four to ten times more oil per hectare than rapeseed, sunflower or soy. Substituting away from palm generally increases the total land area needed and shifts the habitat pressure elsewhere, which is why the IUCN, WWF and Greenpeace all argue for reformed palm rather than boycotts. The exception is products where palm has no functional advantage and is used purely as a cheap filler.
How to spot palm oil on a label. In the EU and UK, palm must be named in the ingredient list of food. In cosmetics and cleaning products it hides behind derivatives: sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate, sodium palmate, palmitate and palmitic acid, stearic acid, glyceryl stearate, cetyl and cetearyl alcohol, elaeis guineensis, and most ingredients beginning "palm-" or containing "laur-". Vegetable oil, vegetable glycerin and emulsifier E471 are frequently palm-derived too.
What to look for instead. Prefer Segregated or Identity Preserved certification over Mass Balance, and either over Credits. Brands scoring highly in the WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard, or sourcing through POIG members, apply stricter no-deforestation, no-peat, no-exploitation commitments than RSPO's floor. Where a brand publishes its mill list, that is stronger evidence than any logo.