Structure and bodies of FONAP

The Forum for Sustainable Palm Oil (FONAP) is an alliance of companies, non-governmental organisations, associations and the German Federal Ministries of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It was established in September 2013, stemming from an initiative of the companies Henkel, Rewe and Unilever and the non-governmental organisation WWF. In November 2015 the Forum for Sustainable Palm Oil became an officially registered association. It receives financial backing from BMEL through FNR (Fachagentur für Nachwachsende Rohstoffe, Germany’s central coordinating agency in the field of renewable resources). FONAP currently has 51 members and supporters, including small, medium-sized and multinational companies from various palm oil processing sectors.

The Forum's activities are coordinated and controlled by the members' General Assembly and the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee, which was elected at the General Assembly in October 2021, is composed of representatives of Ferrero, OVID, SAN, BM Cerification and BMEL&BMZ.

All the Forum’s activities are decided by the members. Working groups made up of honorary representatives of the members support the work of the Forum and advise the Steering Committee. There are currently six groups working on a variety of issues relating to sustainable palm oil: the communication working group, a working group on derivative-related issues, a group that is looking at way of improving the certification schemes, a group that monitors and reviews the FONAP commitment, a working group that is discussing proposals for a concrete project in the producer countries and a working group on European networking and international dialogue.

GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) hosts the Forum’s secretariat, which assists the Steering Committee and the members in implementing decisions and advises on all issues relating to sustainable palm oil.