Month: April 2011

In February, the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) announced that it had successfully tested burning palm oil biodiesel at its Kahe Power Plant. This has been an effort nearly three years in the making, with close collaboration with Malaysian palm oil producer, Sime Darby. Unfortunately, the exercise has not been without its detractors, particularly among international environmental pressure groups that see any and all use of palm oil as an environmental … Read More

The battle continues and it will not stop just yet. Since the 1980s, Malaysia has fought many environmental and trade campaigns against its commodities, notably timber and palm oil. To put it simply, the developed nations want us to preserve our tropical forests, which are considered an important carbon sink for the world.
So, we cannot cut our forests for productive economic purposes, like turning them into high value-add furniture, … Read More

A Look Back At Issues Affecting Malaysian Palm Oil

In the face of ongoing challenges, trade barriers and campaigns by environmental NGOs, Malaysian palm oil continues to lead.

Look no further than The Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) – an organization comprising Malaysia’s small farmers.  FELDA recently announced that it has achieved certification under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), making it one of the first producers of biofuels … Read More

Yesterday, a provision to label the origin of vegetable oils was adopted by the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee in the European Parliament.

The provision was adopted during a vote by MEPs on amendments to the regulation on Food Information to Consumers. The purpose of the regulation is to offer better nutritional information to consumers and is in a second round of negotiations after MEPs disagreed with the … Read More

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia – 19 April 2011 Dr Yusof Basiron, Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), gave testimony yesterday in Canberra before the Australian Senate Committee on Community Affairs on the mandatory labelling of palm oil proposed under the Truth in Labelling Palm Oil Bill of 2010.

Dr. Basiron’s testimony demonstrated the importance of palm oil to Malaysia’s economy and its commitment to sustainability and societal … Read More

Today, leaders from the Malaysian palm oil industry appeared before a public hearing of the Australian Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee to provide testimony and answer questions regarding the Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling – Palm Oil) Bill 2010.  Appearing before the Committee to outline concerns and the implications of the legislation to the Malaysian palm oil industry, included: His Excellency Dato Salman Ahmad, High Commissioner of Malaysia; Tan … Read More

Food labelling provisions have become the latest cause by the Western environmental movement to mischaracterize and cast doubts on Malaysia’s thriving palm oil industry. Having seen the issue advance in Australia, Western environmental NGOs have promoted their cause at the European Parliament in Brussels to implement regulation that would mandate the labeling of vegetable oil sources and restrict Malaysia’s palm oil trade for food producers, retailers and consumers.

Despite the … Read More

The World Bank has just released their long-awaited guidelines for engagement in the global palm oil sector. This announcement follows an 18-month consultation process, in which the Malaysian Palm Oil Council participated.

With their announcement they lifted the misguided suspension of financing for palm oil investments. This is commendable, but MPOC remains deeply disappointed by the outcome of the consultation process, and continues to voice its concern over the direction, … Read More

The International Forest Heroes Award was awarded to the anti-palm oil campaign this week.  The decision to award this prize was based on the premise that palm oil production from South East Asia is a threat to the orang-utan and that the industry is engaged in the destruction of tropical forests.

It calls for products like Girl Scout cookies to be palm oil free. This premise is not accurate. The … Read More

American television talk show host and respected cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Mehmet Oz, has recently discovered the ‘miraculous’ health benefits of red palm oil.
A recent episode of his widely viewed television show, the American doctor and Professor at Columbia University described the red color of the palm oil as a “stop sign for aging”. Dr Oz said that consuming the vegetable oil can fight the aging process, aid fat loss … Read More