KUALA LUMPUR: Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok will meet with Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah next week to find solutions to the problem of Europe’s boycott of palm oil products.
Kok said the banning of palm oil products by the European Union (EU) was unfair and uncalled for.
“We purchased their products such as airplanes, submarines, cars and even buses. But, why is it that they want to stop us from exporting our palm oil commodities to their country?
“I felt that what the EU did to our commodity markets is unfair and unacceptable. I will be meeting with Saifuddin next week together with International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) and Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry to find ways to solve the matter.
“What we want to export is just palm oil and because of this, they want to ban us from exporting our products to them? Our economy will be affected if this is not solved as soon as possible. We want to stop this boycott,” she said at the 8TV Chinese New Year Grand Bazaar at Kuala Lumpur Sports City in Bukit Jalil here.
Also present at the programme were Federal Territory Minister Khalid Samad, Petaling Jaya member of parliament Maria Chin Abdullah, Media Prima Bhd (MPB) group managing director Datuk Kamal Khalid, Primeworks Studios chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Izham Omar and MPB TV Networks chief executive officer Johan Ishak.
It was reported that the EU countries proposed to fully ban palm oil biofuels by 2030.
The banning has been causing anxiety among Malaysian oil palm growers as EU is Malaysia’s third largest palm oil customer.
Recently, Malaysia had urged France to stop discriminating and accord equal opportunities to palm oil trade like that of other vegetable oils such as rapeseed, sunflower and soybean.
Saifuddin, during a working visit to Brussels recently, had called on his counterparts from several EU member states to facilitate Malaysia’s development of sustainable palm oil, including disseminating accurate information and giving fair treatment to palm oil, explaining that free trade should also be done fairly.