Malaysia-MEPS to discuss palm oil issues in 1Q18

KUALA LUMPUR: A delegation from Malaysia will meet with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the first quarter 2018 to discuss issues relating to palm oil, including the European Union’s ban on the commodity.

The delegation will comprise members from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), the MalaysianPalmOilBoardandthe Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC).

MPOC chief executive officer, Dr Kalyana Sundram said the upcoming meeting, likely to take place either in Brussels or Malaysia, would be a platform for the delegation – the government’s technical team – to present a scientific journal titled, “Building a Sustainable Future Together: Malaysia Palm Oil and European Consumption”.

“We hope this report will become one of the documents that Malaysia will present to the EU to support the country’s case for the palm oil industry.

“This would be our first meeting for this year on the related issues and aim to have between three to four more,” he told Bernama at the Reach & Remind, Friends of the Industry Seminar 2018 yesterday.

To recap, the EU last year proposed to ban palm oil from entering its market with its parliament passing two resolutions – to impose a single certified sustainable palm oil scheme for Europe-bound palm oil exports after 2020 and to phase out palm oil from the EU biofuel programme by 2021. — Bernama