KUALA LUMPUR: The Palm Oil Refiners Association of Malaysia (Poram) has urged retail businesses and importers to remove products with “No Palm Oil” or “Free From Palm Oil” labels in support of local palm oil industry.
Poram chairman Jamil Haron, in a statement today, said the initiative taken by the country’s largest hypermarket chain, Mydin, to remove products with such labels should be emulated in light of the negative portrayal of the industry.
“We would like to reach out to other supermarkets, hypermarkets, importers, distributors and the like to adopt Mydin’s example and to actively support the local palm oil industry, which is undoubtedly a major contributor to the national economy, raking in RM67.5 billion in 2018 and expected to increase to about RM75 billion in 2019,” he said.
“This is apart from the fact that the industry supports 650,000 smallholders in Malaysia who are largely dependent on the oil palm crop as their main source of income, not to mention those in the milling and downstream activities adding value to the crude palm oil (business).”
Jamil said Poram would continue to support any initiative by the government to promote the use and application of palm oil either in the food or non-food sectors.
He said Poram condemned the legislation of acts or policies deemed detrimental not only to the refining sector, but also to the palm oil industry, as a whole.
Mydin, in support of the government’s call to counter the anti-palm oil campaign, has removed products with “Palm oil-free” labels from the shelves of its hypermarkets nationwide.
The Love MY Palm Oil campaign is an initiative by the Primary Industries Ministry, undertaken by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, to instil pride and a greater appreciation of the benefits of Malaysian palm oil.
The campaign focuses on the socio-economic, health, nutrition, food, environment and non-food aspects of palm oil.
This year-long campaign encompasses promotional activities at the national level through educational elements combining visual appeal, aesthetic value and social media platforms.
It also engages Malaysians from all walks of life through community-based events.