The Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Logo. Significance and More!
Written by Ainaa Rahim, MPOCC
MSPO logo is the certification mark related to the MSPO certification scheme. It can be a symbol of the connection with MSPO, in terms of promoting, supporting, collaborating, and acting as an indicator where the organisation is certified with MSPO certification.
Apart from that, the MSPO logo can be fixed to a product to indicate that the product originated from an oil palm planted area certified to the requirements of the oil palm management standard and supply chain standard.
MSPO logo only covers sustainable oil palm management and is limited to the materials enclosed in the MSPO certification scope.
MSPO logo was initially created and owned by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The MSPO logo was registered as a Trademark under the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) on 20 January 2014, protected under Trademarks Act 1976 and Trademarks Regulation 1997.
The MSPO logo is registered under four different categories in both colour and monochrome variants with the Trademark number 2014000761, 2014000763 to 2014000769.
As the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC) was established in December 2014 to independently operate the MSPO certification scheme, the MSPO logo was transferred to MPOCC on 13 June 2017.
Starting from that day, the MSPO logo is under the ownership of MPOCC, and MPOCC as the scheme owner of the MSPO certification scheme is responsible for the operations and management of the MSPO logo.
Logo Design
MSPO logo’s design consists of an orange droplet as the background, with a green oil palm frond placed above it and at the foremost layer a yellow color text of the ‘MSPO’ acronym at the front center of the logo.
The MSPO logo also has the words ‘Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil’ concaved inside the bottom of the logo. The registered trademark ® is placed on the top right of the logo.
Figure 1: MSPO Logo
MSPO LOGO USER GROUP
There are four main groups of Logo Users. These user groups comprise both MSPO certificate holders and non-certificate holders.
Group A – Scheme Owner
MPOCC as the scheme owner is permitted to use the MSPO Logo for educational and other communication purposes. It is the only authority responsible for the issuance of licenses for the use of the MSPO logo and controlling logo usage licenses to other parties.
The MSPO logo license number for Group A is MSPO/1-1-1
Group B – Oil Palm Management Certificate Holders
Group B comprises owners and managers of oil palm plantations including smallholdings who have a valid MSPO Oil Palm Management certificate. There are four main categories under this group:
1. Independent Smallholders certified with MS2530-2:2013
2. Organised Smallholders certified with MS2530-3:2013
3. Plantations and estates certified with MS2530-3:2013
4. Palm Oil Mills certified with MS2530-4:2014
The Logo User under this group is allowed to apply only for off-product logo usage and logo verification will be conducted by an Accredited Certification Bodies (ACB) during its MSPO audit and as when needed.
The MSPO logo license number for Group B is assigned based on categories. The MSPO logo license number are as follows:
1. Independent Smallholders (MSPO/2-1-XXXX)
2. Organised Smallholders (MSPO/2-2-XXXX)
3. Plantations (MSPO/2-3-XXXX)
4. Palm Oil Mills (MSPO/2-4-XXXX)
Note: XXXX is the running number of the MSPO logo license issued
Group C – Supply Chain Certificate Holders
Group C comprises Palm Oil Mills and Processing Facilities which process, manufacture, supply, and/or export palm oil products as holders of the supply chain certificates (MSPO-SCCS-01). There are two types of categories under this group:
1. Individual Certification
2. Multi-site certification
The Logo User under Group C is allowed to apply for both on-product and off-product logo usage and the MSPO logo verification also was done by the ACB during the audit and as when needed.
The MSPO logo license number was assigned based on the categories Group C. The MSPO logo license number is:
1. Individual Certification (MSPO/3-1-XXXX)
2. Multi-site certification (MSPO/3-1-XXXX)
Note: XXXX is the running number of the MSPO logo license issued
Group D - Other Groups
Group D comprises accredited certification bodies operating oil palm management certification or supply chain certification under the MSPO Certification Scheme, and other organisations and bodies that wish to promote or advertise the MSPO Certification Scheme for awareness, promotional and educational purposes within their relevant sector, and are permitted to do so by MPOCC.
Under the Group D (Others) category, the parent company or headquarters may also apply to use the MSPO logo under this group for its certified entities and subsidiaries on their limitation, on conditions that the products or materials that used MSPO logo must produce by the parent company or headquarters.
If the certified entities or subsidiaries produce their products or materials or wish to use the MSPO logo on their own, they are required to apply for the MSPO logo individually, based on their certification.
The Logo User under this group is allowed to apply for off-product logo usage only, and the logo verification will be conducted by MPOCC itself or any third-party commission by the MPOCC.
The MSPO logo license number was assigned based on the categories Group C. The MSPO logo license number is:
1. Accredited Certification Bodies (MSPO/4-2-XXXX)
2. Others (MSPO/4-3-XXXX)
Note: XXXX is the running number of the MSPO logo license issued
MSPO LOGO USER AS OF 31 DECEMBER 2021
As of 31 December 2021, MPOCC has issued a total of 259 MSPO Logo Toolkit or MSPO Logo Users.
The public may refer to the list of companies that have successfully obtained the MSPO Logo Toolkit together with their logo status, company information, and certification details on the MSPO Trace website https://mspotrace.org.my/Logo_home. And all interested parties that wish to apply for the MSPO logo usage application can go through the MSPO Trace platform at https://mspotrace.org.my/Logo_home