JAKARTA, Indonesia: Malaysia and Indonesia, in the interest of pursuing mutual respect and equal opportunity for palm oil trade, will press on for the European Union (EU) to reject the discriminatory terms passed in a recent European Parliament on a new oil palm resolution that will hurt tens of millions of tropical farmers' livelihoods.
In a joint statement issued from here today, both Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution and Malaysia's Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong expressed their disappointment on EU’s tougher stance against palm oil imports.
Both Ministers were chairing the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) which discussed global developments affecting palm oil trade, in particular the adoption of the Resolution on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforests by the European Parliament on 4 April 2017.
In a brazen disrespect for global trading norms and country sovereignty, the EU approved the discriminating resolution and ignored government-driven certification schemes, namely the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO).
"The CPOPC views that environmental issues should not be used as a tool for discrimination and a disguised restriction to trade. The proposed measures under the EU Resolution go against international trade obligations," they said in a statement today.
"Indonesia and Malaysia will work together with other palm oil producing countries in addressing this issue with the European Union," they said, adding the EU Resolution will erode palm oil trade and inevitably, the livelihoods of tens of million farmers in tropical nations cultivating oil palm trees.
Darmin and Mah highlighted the global oil palm cultivation which currently stands at 18.12 million hectares, is significantly lower in acreage compared to other vegetable oils such as soybean, rapeseed and sunflower seed which collectively stands at 180.29 million hectares.
This logically meant oil palm cultivation is the most sustainable vegetable oil crop. Yet, oil palm planters in developing nations are ironically subjected to defamatory allegations of not caring about the environment.
The Ministers noted the palm oil, in the last decade or so, had been subjected to discriminating certifications while other edible oils and fats are exempted.
The EU resolution neglects the reality that palm oil is an important economic enabler in Indonesia and Malaysia, which provides employment and vital income for rural communities.
Darmin and Mah noted oil palm cultivation and palm oil exports contributes to multiplier economic benefits to more than 16 million people in Indonesia and four million people in Malaysia.
Palm biofuel produced from sustainable sources has been proven to be more environmentally friendly than other sources of biofuels.
"Phasing out of palm oil from EU biofuel programme by 2020 is incomprehensible since the environmental impact of any proposed replacement is more damaging."
As the world move towards a global society, it would be in the best interests of the European Parliament and European Commission to further engage and accept government-driven certifications by oil palm producers in developing tropical nations.