New Straits Times (17/10/2020) - THE palm oil industry can vouch that it is not easy to be a leader of the global oils and fats market.

Palm oil was nowhere when soyabean oil dominated the world market. This changed when Malaysia started expanding her oil palm cultivation.

Palm oil displaced soyabean oil from top spot. When Indonesia joined the industry, palm oil became almost unassailable. The rise to be the number one has been challenging. It started with palm oil being attacked in a well planned communication strategy linking it with heart disease.

It started in the United States (US), but soon the nutritional rulings against palm oil spread to the other markets. The palm oil industry in Malaysia spent millions to counter such baseless allegations. Palm oil used counter-arguments based on science to convince the market.

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The game changer came when scientists in the US found evidence on the real culprit of heart disease, trans fatty acid or TFA, found mainly in the partially hydrogenated soyabean oil. The whole industry went silent when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put up a regulation making TFA labelling mandatory.

Palm oil has never taken the offensive position in dispelling the claims by competitors. All the communication on the virtues of palm oil was based on the facts of science. They were all evidence-based. But competitors often used manufactured facts to belittle palm oil.

After the negative health claims, the environment issue was next on the attack list against palm oil. The claims were — palm oil drives deforestation, palm oil production emits more greenhouse gases, palm oil reduces the population of orangutan and the list goes on.

Again, the palm oil industry had to dispel the claims providing the counter arguments to such green bashing. The European Union's (EU) impending ban on the import of palm biodiesel is also grounded in the claim that palm oil is not good for the environment. Never mind the fact that as a crop, the oil palm is an efficient sink of the greenhouse gases (GHGs).

The latest attack is on labour. This time, the issue being raised to stop palm oil import is the claim of forced labour. A recent action by the US to stop the entry of some palm oil products into the country is also related to the labour issue. Labour is now being used by some importing countries to deny the entry of products into their markets. And there are many issues concerning labour.

Apart from forced labour, the other issues being raised are those to do with child labour, labour housing and wages. According to the palm oil companies, such parameters are already within the scope of the many sustainability certification schemes that they subscribe to.

Yet, despite being certified to the relevant criteria on labour, the industry is still being penalised. Many are now asking whether there is a hidden agenda behind all such rulings. It is time the concerned certification bodies come forward to defend palm oil on the labour issue.

This labour pain leading to the import restriction is not the only setback that the industry has to endure. For years now, especially for the Malaysian palm oil industry, companies have been losing millions of ringgit because of unharvested fruits.

The labour shortage issue is not that critical in Indonesia. As a result of the reduction in the recruitment of foreign labour, which account for almost 80 per cent of the industry's labour force, a high percentage of the ripe palm fruits has been left to rot.

The problem is exacerbated during the pandemic. It is unclear how long the industry can endure the different aspects of the labour pains. Let us hope the industry will remain strong because many small farmers are dependent on the sustainability of the industry for their livelihood.

Sometimes it baffles me why certain parties are always picking on palm oil. If we look at the pains the world is going through, palm oil stands out as among the candidates which can help ease the pains. One major pain that has raised global concern is, the world is running scarce of suitable land for agriculture.

At the same time, we need oils and fats as part of our diet. Compared to the other oils, palm oil uses almost 10 times less land. So, why are we putting all kinds of obstacles on palm oil. I shudder to think what will happen if palm oil is not part of the global oils and fats supply equation.

The writer is a Fellow, Academy of Science, UCSI University

Read more at https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2020/10/632937/mistreating-palm-oil-will-not-benefit-global-agriculture