Mah: ENVI proposal on palm oil unacceptable
Malaysia committed to mandatory certified sustainable palm oil production by end-2019
KUALA LUMPUR: The recommendation by the European Environmental Committee’s (ENVI) to exclude palm oil use from Renewable Energy Directive (RED) as early as 2021, has been described as discriminatory and unacceptable.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said the recommendation was also against World Trade Organisation principles as other oils and fats could still be used for biofuels under the RED until 2029.
Mah was speaking during a special dialogue session with 18 European ambassadors, led by ambassador and head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Malaysia Maria Castillo Fernandez.
He urged the ambassadors, as the eyes and ears of their nations in Malaysia, to convey the correct perspectives about Malaysian palm oil to their EU counterparts, particularly by highlighting Malaysia’s commitment towards mandatory certified sustainable palm oil production by end-2019.
The closed door meeting was a follow up on a previous briefing by Mah with the European ambassadors three months ago, primarily focused on matters regarding the EU parliamentary resolution to link palm oil and deforestation.
During the meeting, Fernandez stressed that the EU resolution was now being worked through the European Commissioners and the European Council before possible legislative measures are proposed.
She said the openness demonstrated by Mah and the Malaysian government was “highly rele- vant and invaluable”, as EU officials were at the phase of consultation with different stakeholders from the palm oil producing countries.
Mah responded to this by stating that the current palm oil debate had drawn serious concerns from the top officials of palm oil producing countries, including Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Malaysia is committed to ensure successful participation of all stakeholders in the MSPO certification mandate, including by providing full financial aid to more than 650,000 independent smallholders, accounting for 40% of the country’s oil palm cultivated area,” Mah said in a statement.
He called upon the ambassadors to help ensure that MSPO was accredited and accepted as a certification system in Europe, and said that Malaysia was willing to collaborate with European experts to raise the benchmark for MSPO.
Between January and August 2017, the EU remained the main export destination of Malaysian palm oil and palm-based products, valued collectively at RM7.5bil, compared with RM6.3bil during the previous year.