"プレスリリース：明治を東京五輪パーム油調達コード違反で通報〜ライセンス菓子商品について〜", 9 July 2021

[Japanese-to-English translation: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

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The subject of the report is the Tokyo 2020 officially licensed product "Chocolate Snack," which was launched in July 2019 by Tokyo 2020 Games sponsor Meiji Corporation. The Tokyo Olympics "Sustainable Sourcing Code" and "Sourcing Code for the Promotion of Sustainable Palm Oil" call for production in a manner that meets standards for legal compliance, environmental conservation, and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and others. However, as a result of an analysis based on a case study conducted in Indonesia's tropical forest "Roussel Ecosystem" published by Rainforest Action Network (RAN) in 2019, it became clear that Meiji's palm oil supply chain is suspected to include companies involved in local illegal plantation development, peatland and tropical forest destruction, and land rights violations of local residents. In June 2021, it was discovered that palm oil from Indonesian companies involved in deforestation had not been removed from the supply chain, including Japan.

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The list of oil mills and grievance list published by Fuji Oil, a supplier company of Meiji, includes oil mills and plantation companies that have been found to have various environmental and social problems. The palm oil procurement code for the Tokyo Olympics requires that palm oil be produced in a manner that meets the standards of compliance with laws and regulations, environmental conservation, and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples, etc. Therefore, palm oil that violates the procurement code may have been included in the licensed products of the Meiji Tokyo Olympics.

Major examples of oil mills and plantation companies in Indonesia:

In the Sin Kilu Bengkung zone within the "Lucerne Ecosystem" in northern Sumatra, the following investigation cases were identified in the RAN report. At an oil mill located near the protected area, the production situation of the plantation enterprise was not sufficiently checked, and palm oil with the following problems was procured.

1) Illegal plantation development in the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Sanctuary, reported in October 2019.

2) Procurement from plantation companies that are destroying tropical forests without preserving ecosystems or properly protecting environmentally important areas, including peatlands and natural forests was reported in October 2019. Ongoing investigations will confirm the continuation of procurement (Note 10), June 2021.

3) Violation of local residents' land rights by plantation companies, reported in November 2019, etc.

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