About 3.64 million hectares or 62.3% of the 5.85 million hectares of oil palm plantations in the country have obtained the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification as of Dec 31, 2019. Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok said the certification involved 2.98 million hectares of oil palm estates, 578,707 hectares of organised smallholdings and 89,454 hectares of independent smallholdings. Kok said that “for Sabah, all 29 sustainable palm oil clusters have been MSPO certified, involving 3,513 independent smallholdings with a total area of 24,964 hectares”. Kok noted that the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) had issued notice to owners of oil palm plantations with an area of 100 acres and above to strive for MSPO certification or risk having their licence to sell revoked.

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