Archived News

23/01/2008 (Inquirer.net) - THE HOTTEST debate in town involves something vital to motorists: fuel. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who ironically enough authored the Biofuels Act of 2007, wants to apply the brakes on its implementation, citing the recent warning of 1998 Nobel laureate for chemistry Dr. Hartmut Michel that our government’s biofuels program could endanger the country’s food security and harm the environment.

21/01/2008 (Bernama), Kota Bharu - Supply of cooking oil to Rantau Panjang will be reduced to curb smuggling which has become rampant.

21/01/2008 (Bernama), Brussels - Malaysia, along with Indonesia, will be closely monitoring developments within the European Union (EU) regarding a draft law that proposes to ban imports of certain biofuels, sources here told Bernama.

23/01/2008 (Wall Street Journal) - The European Union will move today to protect its ailing transport-biofuels industry from foreign imports with measures that would force companies to show their fuels are helping the environment more than they are hurting it, according to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal.

23/01/2008 (Associated Press), Bangkok, Thailand — The world's rush to embrace biofuels is causing a spike in the price of corn and other crops and could worsen water shortages and force poor communities off their land, a U.N. official said Wednesday.

23/01/2008 (Daily Express, East Malaysia), Kota Kinabalu - Sabah is seeking RM1 billion from the Federal Government for continued development of the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Lahad Datu over the next 18 years as part of the Sabah Development Corridor programme.

22/01/2008 (Bloomberg) - India, the world's second-biggest buyer of vegetable oils, may import 5 percent more of the commodity to boost supplies as domestic oilseed production falls, a trade body said.

23/01/2008 (The Telegraph), New Delhi - India today expressed confidence that a free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-member Asean would become operational by January 2009.

22/01/2008 (The Economic Times), New Delhi - After a series of compromises made by India to remove the hitches blocking the India-Asean free trade agreement (FTA), Asean too seems to be doing its bit in the last leg of the negotiations. In its fresh proposals on duty cuts for the five crucial agricultural products holding up the agreement, it has gone down considerably from its earlier demands.

23/01/2008 (The Economic Times), New Delhi - A free trade agreement between India and 10-nation ASEAN is likely to be operationalised by January 2009, with negotiations expected to conclude by March this year, Commerce Secretary Gopal Pillai said on Wednesday.

18/01/2008 (The Hindu), New Delhi - The government on Friday said it has not yet decided on reducing the customs duty on imported edible oils such as palm oil and soya oil.

18/01/2008 (Mongabay.com) - Global food and consumer goods giants are backing a plan to certify that palm oil is produced in a way that doesn't drive destruction of tropical rainforests, reports The Wall Street Journal. The move comes as the palm industry is facing increasing scrutiny -and consumer backlash - for its practices which scientists say are driving large-scale destruction of forests across Indonesia and Malaysia, resulting in massive greenhouse gas emissions.