Malaysia to send six MPs to Europe to seek support for palm oil
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is sending six lawmakers to Europe in September to meet and seek support from Members of the European Parliament in relation to palm oil.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, said the six Members of Parliament (MPs) chosen for the delegation would come from Barisan Nasional ( BN) and non-BN representatives.
“Their names will be announced when they leave for Europe,” he told reporters after opening the Palm International Nutra- Cosmeceutical Conference ( PINC) 2017 yesterday.
Mah said their trip was initially slated for July but was rescheduled to end- September as most of the Members of the European Parliament were not around due to the summer holidays.
“They (the six MPs) are trying to meet as many European Parliament MPs as possible,” he said, adding that their jobs among others were to explain and give better picture of the palm oil industry.
A resolution by the European Parliament recently called for the European Union to phase out by 2020 the use of vegetable oils in biodiesel that are allegedly produced in an unsustainable way leading to deforestation.
The resolution includes palm oil.
E arlier in his speech, Mah stressed that Malaysia continued to stand tall with its total forest cover at more than 55 per cent of its total land area, higher than the Western nations that accused the palm oil sector as the driver of deforestation.
“Malaysia is a proponent of good environment and the country cares about its forests, flora and fauna. The government also has a sustainable policy on its oil palm industry,” he said. — Bernama