17/11/2012 (The Star) - The French senate's rejection of a budget that contained a proposal to increase tax on palm oil provides an opportunity for the country to work with Malaysia in countering negative perception of the commodity, said the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

In a statement, its chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron said the proposal was not based on science, describing it as an “unjustified attack against hundreds of thousands of small farmers across Malaysia”.

“Malaysia is pleased to see the French senate reject the PLFSS budget that contained the inflammatory and baseless tax on palm oil,” he said.

“This now provides an opportunity for France and Malaysia to work together in returning to a science-based discussion and countering public perception of palm oil, which are currently based on hyperbole instead of truth.”

Palm oil, Yusof said, was a healthy, all-natural oil, free of GMO (genetically modified organism) and dangerous trans fats.

“Palm oil contributes only a small percentage to the saturated fat intake of France compared to other sources like butter and ensures dangerous alternatives can be avoided,” he said.

The proposal to increase palm oil tax by 300% from around 100 (RM397) to 400 (RM1,587) was tabled by French senator Yves Daudigny. He had claimed that the oil was “most rich in saturated fats and its harmful effect on health had already been established”.

In its vote on the Bill's complete package of revenue on Thursday, the senate rejected it. However, the legislative procedure will still continue.

The senators will have another chance to vote on the proposal, which also needs to be considered by the lower house, the National Assembly.

Yusof said the bulk of saturated fats consumed in France came from animal sources like meat, milk, cheese and butter not from palm oil.

“Consumption of fats from animal sources amounts to 34.4kg a year while palm oil consumption per capita in France is only 2kg,” he said.

Malaysia, he said, also had a better track record on efficient land use and conservation than France, with 50% of its land committed to forest cover compared to France's 28%.

“We look forward to working with our French partners through the government-sponsored joint task force on palm oil,” he said. “We hope the unfortunate and inflammatory tax is consigned to the past.”