RM30 mln from new cess collection to support MARCOP — MPIC

KUALA LUMPUR: RM30 million of the collection from the palm oil cess that has newly been increased by RM2 to RM16 from RM14 per tonne will complement the RM30 million matching grant allocated to the industry by the government in Budget 2021.

The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) in a statement said the amount from the new cess enforced on March 1, will go towards propping up the establishment of the Mechanisation and Automation Research Consortium of Oil Palm (MARCOP).

“The establishment of MARCOP involves the cooperation of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and the industry.

“It is aimed at enhancing use of technology and farm mechanisation to optimise operational efficiency and oil palm fruit harvesting besides resolving labour shortage in the plantation sector,” said minister Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali.

He said it was appropriate to implement the new rate as crude palm oil (CPO) price is presently rising.

The cess increase applies to CPO and crude palm kernel oil producers or licence holders under the mills category, following the improvement in palm oil prices to RM3,000 per tonne and which is projected to strengthen further.

“Collection from the cess will also finance the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) which was established to jointly handle challenges at international level such as the anti-palm oil campaigns and discrimination by the European Union against palm oil-based biofuels,” Mohd Khairuddin said.

In addition, he said, the cess will be used to finance new technologies from research and development activities, market incentivisation activities by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil Certification including activities that focus and provide support for smallholders to enhance global competitiveness and sustainability of the country’s palm oil industry.