Malaysia in last ditch effort to avert EU palm oil curbs

• Malaysia will present legal and technical arguments this week against an EU plan to limit the use of palm oil, the head of the country’s marketing agency said on 5 Mar 19, opposing a move that could lead to an eventual ban on the edible oil.
• The European Commission in Feb 19 said the use of palm oil in motor fuel should be phased out because oil palm cultivation led to deforestation. The move is part of the EU’s climate goals.
• Palm oil and other commodities producing countries as well as NGOs met the EU executive on 5 Mar 19 to discuss the issue which has caused an outcry in palm oil producers Malaysia and Indonesia.
• Kalyana Sundram, chief executive of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), said his agency had identified gaps in the Commission’s rationale and planned a strong response on 8 Mar 19 when the feedback period kicked off.
• The EU executive is seeking to finalize the act on 14 Mar 19, giving the European Parliament the required two months to review and potentially object to the act. The issue is urgent as the European parliamentary election will be held in May 19.
• On 5 Mar 19, Teresa Kok, the ministry of primary industries, said the classification of all palm oil produce as a high indirect land use change (ILUC) risk biofuel feedstock is “unacceptable” since such damaging findings are obtained by erroneous and biased interpretations by the European Commission (EC).
• The ministry led by its secretary-general Datuk Dr Tan Yew Chong is currently in Brussels, Belgium to participate in the stakeholder meeting on high and low ILUC risk biofuels under The Recast Of The Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED II) on 5 Mar 19.
• “Furthermore, it is biased against palm oil biofuels compared with the other crop-based biofuels. We therefore concluded that overall, palm oil has been unfairly labeled as a high ILUC risk among the eight feedstocks cited in the draft regulation,” it added.
• The ministry noted that these actions create unwarranted barriers to Malaysia’s sustainable practices in the industry and overall impedes free trade.

External Link: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/malaysia-last-ditch-effort-avert-eu-palm-oil-curbs

External Link: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/labelling-palm-oil-high-iluc-risk-unacceptable-%E2%80%93-malaysia-tells-ec