ISPO Certification Guide for Smallholders: Mandatory by March 2029, Requirements and 7 Steps

Oil palm smallholders must hold Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification four years after Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 16 of 2025 was enacted on 19 March 2025, which means around March 2029. Applications go to an ISPO Certification Body (LS ISPO), may be filed as a group, and costs can be supported by BPDP funds or by national or regional budgets. The technical rules are in Agriculture Ministerial Regulation (Permentan) No. 33 of 2025, issued on 21 November 2025, which revoked Permentan 38/2020.

The smallholder deadline is more generous than that for plantation companies, which have been bound since the Perpres took effect, and for downstream and bioenergy industries, which were given two years (see the ISPO obligation for biodiesel producers).

What is assessed for smallholders?

Permentan 33/2025 sets five ISPO principles for smallholders, fewer than the seven for companies:

• Legal compliance: land legality, freedom from disputes, plantation business registration, and an environmental permit or approval.
• Good plantation practice: group organisation, planning, land clearing, seedlings, planting (on mineral or peat soil), maintenance, pest control, harvesting and FFB transport.
• Environment: prevention of land fires and conservation of biodiversity.
• Transparency: FFB traceability, information on FFB selling prices, and data provision.
• Sustainable business improvement.

What to prepare

• A plantation business registration certificate (known as STDB) and/or proof of land rights, a statement of physical control of the land, or another basis of land control.
• A group: a smallholder group, a federation of groups or a cooperative.
• At least one group member trained to run an internal control system (ICS).
• An environmental management commitment statement from the district/city environment office.
• Location, polygon and area data for each plot, as this information is printed on the certificate.

Certification steps

1. Obtain an STDB from the district/city plantation office and the environmental commitment statement from the environment office.
2. Form or strengthen a group and send the ICS staff to ISPO training. Training can be provided by ISPO training bodies or consultants, government offices, partner companies, development partners or NGOs.
3. Apply for financial support as a group. For national-budget funding, applications go to the head of the district/city office and are verified in stages by the province and the Director General of Plantations, then funded if the budget allows. For BPDP funds, applications follow BPDP's rules.
4. Apply for certification to an LS ISPO through the ISPO information system. Files that do not meet the requirements are rejected with reasons.
5. Sign a certification agreement with the LS ISPO. The stage 1 audit, covering legality checks, sample plot selection and critical points, takes place within three months of the agreement. If the group falls short, it has six months to make corrections.
6. The stage 2 audit assesses how the principles are applied in the field and interviews stakeholders. The number of sample plots is calculated as (0.8√y) × a risk factor of 1–3.
7. Receive the certificate and stay compliant. Certificates are valid for five years. Smallholders face two surveillance audits: within 18 months and no later than 36 months after issuance. Findings not fixed within three months lead to a six-month suspension, then revocation if still unresolved. Recertification must be requested at least one year before expiry.

How much does it cost?

Permentan 33/2025 makes the applicant responsible for certification costs, but smallholders may apply for support. That support covers at least STDB issuance, the environmental statement, ICS training, mentoring, initial certification and recertification, and surveillance for one cycle. Funding can come from BPDP, the national budget, provincial or district/city budgets, or other legitimate sources. We found no official ISPO certification fee for smallholders published by the government. For cost estimates and support quotas, contact your district/city plantation office or BPDP.

Normansyah Hidayat Syahruddin, BPDP's Director of Upstream Fund Disbursement, said in April 2026 that smallholders can apply for funding through their institutions under Permentan 33/2025, Republika reported.

What are the benefits, and the penalties?

ISPO-certified smallholders get priority for BPDP support: human resource development, research, replanting, and facilities and infrastructure. However, Ratna Sariati of the Directorate General of Plantations told InfoSAWIT in May 2026 that there is no premium price scheme like RSPO's yet. For those still uncertified once the obligation applies, the regulation sets escalating penalties: up to two written warnings (six months each), an administrative fine, then a proposal to temporarily suspend business activity.