MPOC: EU palm oil ban can still be overturned
PUTRAJAYA: There is still time to overturn the European Union’s ( EU) proposed plan to ban palm oil, says the Malaysian Palm Oil Council ( MPOC).
Chairman, Datuk Lee Yeow Chor said with the plan still at the proposal stage and five years before it is finalised, there is still time to discuss the matter with the EU.
“A final decisions will only be made in 2021. Both the Indonesian and Malaysian governments have voiced their stand of not agreeing with the proposal and we sti l l have time to change it,” he added after IOI Corporation Bhd’s Extraordinary General Meeting yesterday.
Lee, who is also chief executive officer of IOI Corporation, said the decision will be a trading stand and with trade conducted in a mutual manner, Malaysia could possibly reciprocate if it is carried through.
A final decisions will only be made in 2021. Both the Indonesian and Malaysian governments have voiced their stand of not agreeing with the proposal and we still have time to change it. Datuk Lee Yeow Chor, MPOC chairman
The European Parliament’s recent non- binding resolution urged the bloc’s executive arm to step up efforts at preventing deforestation resulting from palm oil production.
The a l legat ion is that expansion of plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia has seen farmers use the illegal slash- and- burn method to clear land which has destroyed rainforests and habitats of animals, while causing a severe haze that has blanketed parts of Asia.
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, the EU is Malaysia’s biggest export destination, accounting for about 13 per cent of shipments of palm oil and palm- based products last year.
Current ly, Malaysia and Indonesia account for over 80 per cent of the world’s palm oil production.
Meanwhile, Lee said demand for palm oil is increasing at the rate of 30 to 40 per cent annually, especial ly from developing countries.
Besides developing countries, Malaysian palm oil is also exported to Europe, the United States, Japan and China for use in the production of biodiesel. — Bernama