Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made on the implementation, through public procurement policy, of their commitment to achieve 100 per cent sourcing of credibly certified sustainable palm oil by the end of 2015.

The Government Buying Standard for food and catering was amended in October 2012 to state that, from the end of 2015, all palm oil used for cooking and as an ingredient in food shall be sustainably produced. The Government has been making good progress towards meeting this requirement, with the majority of departments reporting that their catering contractors are complying with it. The next report on progress under the Greening Government Commitments, covering 2015/16, will include an update on sustainable procurement issues, including palm oil.