JAKARTA: Top palm oil producer countries of Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to make coordinated efforts in retaliating the ongoing barriers and black campaign on palm oil trade by exposing results of researches on positive usage of the commodity among the public.
Xinhua.net in its report today said the commitments were expressed in the meeting between Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Anifah Aman in the president's office here.
Besides responding the black campaign on palm oil products, Indonesian foreign minister said the Indonesia-Malaysia joint efforts were also aimed at improving their bargaining power in the issue and further promote sustainable palm oil production.
The joint retaliating efforts would be conducted through Council of Palm Oil Producer Countries (CPOPC), the organisation founded by the two nation, Retno said.
"Indonesia had already prepared many results of researches to counter the black campaign. If we can jointly do it together it would be more effective," he said, adding Malaysia had also prepared the same materials that would be merged with Indonesia's in the near future.
In April, through the CPOPC platform, Indonesia and Malaysia had expressed their protests over European Parliament's adoption on Resolution on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforests which restricted the palm oil exports to the European Union, traditionally a major palm oil market.
The two world's largest palm oil producers also disappointed on the formation of EU-self proclaimed certification system on palm oil product which was mentioned in the resolution instead of using the existing ones set up by Indonesia and Malaysia.
The two nations have also highlighted trade injustice in EU's discriminatory plan to phase out palm oil from its biofuel program by 2020.