The Oil Palm would like to bring to your attention an op-ed by the Malaysian Minister for Plantations and Commodities, Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, who called out European companies who openly undermine and attack Malaysian Palm Oil and millions of the country’s small farmers.
The Minister singled out Denmark’s Lurpak, an RSPO member, which has brazenly decided to launch anti-Palm Oil labels inside the borders of Malaysia. The comments … Read More
The European Commission has responded to the European Parliament’s outlandish resolution on palm oil. The Commission is the EU’s executive arm, and is responsible for proposing all EU laws: so their opinion matters.
That doesn’t mean that the Commission is all-powerful. It is just a small part of the EU and its decision-making processes. The Parliament, the European Council and member governments are the wielders of real political power at … Read More
The Oil Palm would like to bring to your attention an opinion editorial authored by Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities for Malaysia, that appeared in Morning Consult ahead of the meeting between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and U.S. President Donald Trump, celebrating the 60th anniversary of ties between the two nations.
Morning Consult: Achieving ‘Malaysia First’ Along With ‘America First’
“My ministry … Read More
The European Parliament’s recent hostile Resolution on Palm Oil and Deforestation was voted through in April 2017. The Oil Palm has previously highlighted the multiple errors and falsehoods in that Resolution.
However, the Resolution was not legally-binding. For all the controversy and media coverage, nothing in the Resolution had immediate legal effect.
In the coming months, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will be debating and voting on a Directive … Read More
The demonization of palm oil has stepped up a notch with the official launch of a new anti-palm oil certification scheme in both the UK and in Australia. The International Palm Oil Free Certification Accreditation Program (IPOFCAP) claims that it will certify products as being ‘palm oil free’ through an auditing process.
When we first read the press release, a few questions immediately presented themselves.
Why does this ‘palm oil … Read More
Recently, the European Council voted to postpone a decision on reducing tariffs on imported biofuels from Argentina after being ordered by the WTO to do so. The WTO declared the tariffs illegal after a three-year legal battle. A similar Indonesian suit may yield the same result.
The tariffs were put in place to support the EU’s ailing oilseed growers, who are struggling to compete against imported biofuels made from soybean … Read More
Other commodities should be put under the spotlight
IISD (the International Institute for Sustainable Development) has just published its second Sustainability Standards Initiative (SSI) report.
Its first SSI published in 2014 was controversial. Why? Because it was clear that palm oil was leading the way in terms of food commodity certification, yet IISD was highly critical of both palm oil and palm oil certification.
What was also clear in … Read More
A documentary on Swiss television show Rundschau, purporting to claim that Swiss farmers should switch away from using Palm Oil in animal feed, has quickly been debunked as ‘fake news’, as it emerges that the proposal would substantially harm both Swiss farmers and consumers.
Rundschau claims that the use of Palm Oil is ‘embarrassing’ and quoted trade union officials calling for Palm Oil use to be ‘stopped’. However, there … Read More
Sustainability certification for commodities is growing. One think-tank estimates that there are around 400 sustainability initiatives for different commodities around the globe, ranging from cocoa to beef. Palm oil is no exception. Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification is one of the most widely known standards in the global marketplace, but there are no fewer than four sustainability standards for palm oil – more than any other oil crop.… Read More
The new French Environment Minister, Nicolas Hulot, has stated publicly that he plans to examine ways to ban Palm Oil – specifically Palm Oil biofuels – from the French market. Malaysian Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong last week sent a clear message that if the EU continues to discriminate against Palm Oil, it would endanger the EU-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement.
Does Minister Hulot’s speech mark the beginning of a … Read More
