Read the initial statement issued by the Dutch NCP - 20 January 2020

Read the final statement issued by the Dutch NCP – 7 April 2022

Read the follow up statement issued by the Dutch NCP – 13 July 2023

On 5 July 2019, Milieudefensie/Friends of the Earth Netherlands, WALHI/Friends of the Earth Indonesia and SDI/Friends of the Earth Liberia submitted a specific instance to the Dutch NCP alleging that ING, a multinational company active in the financial sector, did not observe the OECD Guidelines as a result of its financing of companies in the palm oil sector.

On 20 January 2020, the Dutch NCP published its initial statement accepting the specific instance for further examination.

Both parties accepted the NCP’s offer to engage in mediation. The dialogue ended early as ING no longer wanted to participate, noting a lack of trust in good faith participation in the process by the submitters following a press release on the issues, commissioned by Milieudefensie. In August 2021, it was decided that the dialogue would not continue and the NCP moved to issue a final statement.

On 7 April 2022, the NCP published its final statement, in which it recommended that the parties remain in contact about the issues raised, specifically regarding the relationship of the company to the impacts (i.e. if the company contributed to adverse impacts or the adverse impacts were directly linked to its services by the business relationship and at what point a direct link becomes a contribution), appropriate due diligence measures in this instance, and engagement with (or disengagement from) large-scale palm oil production.

On 13 July 2023, the NCP published a follow up statement noting that, overall, the NCP had not been able to identify substantive progress made by the parties jointly regarding its recommendations on the issues raised in the specific instance. The NCP noted the adoption by ING of an internal guidance on due diligence, which is now being implemented. The NCP encouraged ING to continue monitoring developments and where necessary further develop this guidance in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

As noted by the NCP in its final statement and as recognised by ING, participation in an initiative such as RSPO (a global certification system for certified sustainable palm oil) does not shift responsibility from the enterprise to the initiative for adverse impacts that it causes, contributes to or to which it is directly linked; the enterprise itself remains responsible for ensuring that its due diligence is carried out effectively. Therefore, according to the NCP, scrutiny by the notifying parties can help enterprises like ING in continuously assessing the quality of the initiative.

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