Four agencies ask govt to retaliate against EU's palm oil ban

KUALA LUMPUR: Four federal agencies involved in agricultural activity have asked the government to retaliate against the European Union's (EU) palm oil ban by halting any negotiations on business contracts with its member states.

The stand was taken following a meeting attended by top brass from the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Felcra), the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda), and National Association of Smallholders Malaysia (Nash).

Speaking to reporters after the meeting at Wisma Felcra here, Felcra chairman Datuk Nageeb Wahab said the action was deemed fit to end the EU's proposed plan to remove palm oil from biofuel by 2020.

He said the European Parliament had voted to ban the use of palm oil for the production of biofuels in the EU by 2020, classifying oil palm trees as a cause of deforestation of rainforest.

“This has a very big implication to the uptake of palm oil and will definitely affect the income of the smallholders who are already suffering because of low prices.

“So, we have decided to make a step and request the government to assist us and we are also going to assist the government in showing our solidarity,” he said.

Besides Nageeb, the others who attended the meeting were Felda director-general Datuk Dr Othman Omar, Risda chairman Rosely Kusip and Nash president Datuk Aliasak Ambia.

Nageeb said the EU decision would affect nearly 650,000 local smallholders, as well as five million dependent family members.

He said it was time for Malaysia to be aggressive in dealing with this matter after tolerating it for a long time.

“We've tried to convince the EU that technically palm oil is good, succeedable, and does not cause deforestation, but nobody is listening to us. So, the only way to approach this matter now is through political and economy avenues,” he added.

He said the four agencies also agreed to send a memorandum to the EU in the near future.

"The memorandum will be detailing the fate of 650,000 smallholders and five million family members who are affected by the EU's actions to boycott palm oil products," he said.

Currently, the EU imports 7.5 million tonnes of world palm oil, 85 per cent of them from Malaysia and Indonesia. - Bernama