15/08/2011 (The Star) - Malaysia will send representatives to Australia to lobby against a parliamentary move requiring palm oil labelling in Australia.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the Australian Senate had already passed the Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling-Palm Oil) Bill but it had not been sent to the Lower House yet.

"Before the Bill is tabled in the Lower House, a committee hearing has been scheduled for people to put in their submissions before Aug 15, and we will submit our views at the hearing on Aug 18," he told reporters here Friday.

Dompok, who led a delegation to Australia last month, said it would take a long time before the Bill became law as the various states in Australia would also have to enact and approve similar laws first.

He said Australia has stated three grounds - depletion of forest (environmental grounds), displacement of orang utans and health - as the reasons to pass the Bill.

"All these are unfounded and due to misconceptions," he said.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board has been directed to hold seminars and workshops in Australia in order for the people there to understand more about the palm oil industry, he added.