MPOC urges public to report negative labelling of palm oil-based products
04/10/2022 (The Edge Markets), Kuala Lumpur - The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) has urged Malaysians to tip off the council, should they come across any form of unfair practices or negative labelling of palm oil-based products.
In a statement on Tuesday (Oct 4), the council said products with “no palm oil” labels are now being sold by retailers and supermarkets in Malaysia, despite the country’s laborious efforts to promote the goodness of palm oil.
From checks conducted on 2,609 premises nationwide, the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry’s enforcement officers found 12 products with labels such as “palm oil-free” or “does not contain palm oil”.
“With a view of promoting fair competition and balanced marketing, retailers and supermarket operators are reminded that they are required to comply with the Trade Descriptions Act 2011 to avoid false or misleading statements in their labelling or advertisement pertaining to palm oil,” it said.
The council said apart from compliance with the correct and proper food labelling provisions as specified in the Act, there is an overriding need to comply with the Consumer Protection Act 1999.
However, the MPOC said it would be difficult for the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry to prove “insulting food labelling”, “denigratory advertising” or “negative labelling” of palm oil-based food products.
On Oct 31, 2019, the government approved a regulation to ban the usage of product labels that portray negative connotations about palm oil.
This unscrupulous practice was detected by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC).
“If need be, depending on the severity of the matter, the regulation can be extended into the form of an Act or more stringent law to facilitate enforcement or to initiate legal action against product manufacturers and/or retailers,” it said.
MPOC chief executive officer Wan Aishah Wan Hamid said they have been working hard to promote palm oil around the world.
“However, it is disheartening to find out that supermarkets in our own backyard are carrying products with the ‘no palm oil’ label on their shelves,” she said.