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Malaysia, Indonesia To Hold Seminar To Address Anti-palm Oil Campaign
Malaysia, Indonesia To Hold Seminar To Address Anti-palm Oil Campaign
31/08/2013 (Bernama) - Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's top two producers of palm oil, will organise a joint seminar on the health and nutritional benefits of palm oil next year to address the anti-palm oil campaign.
Government officials from both countries held a bilateral cooperation meeting here today on commodities including palm oil, cocoa, pepper and jatropha.
The Malaysian delegation was led by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas and the Indonesian delegation was led by Agriculture Minister Dr H. Suswono.
"There are evolving barriers to palm oil exporters particularly to Europe now," Uggah said in a press conference after the meeting.
These include the proposal to raise domestic taxes on palm oil in France and the 'without palm oil' labelling on food products.
The latest issue is the draft proposal submitted to the European Union (EU) Parliament to ban imports of palm oil from deforested countries as a biodiesel source.
The proposal is being considered by China to ban the use of palm oil in the production of infant formula on health grounds.
"We will also monitor the developments under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the Notice Of Data Availability under the US Environmental Protection Agency," he said.
Meanwhile, both countries agreed to accelerate biodiesel programmes to increase domestic consumption of palm oil and propose measures to adress the low palm oil prices.
The prices will likely hover between the RM2,395 and RM2,438 level in the second half of this year on sustained demand from China.
In another development, Malaysia will support Indonesia's proposal to include palm oil in the list of environmental goods under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, while Indonesia supports Malaysia's proposal to include biodiesel in this list.
Government officials from both countries held a bilateral cooperation meeting here today on commodities including palm oil, cocoa, pepper and jatropha.
The Malaysian delegation was led by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas and the Indonesian delegation was led by Agriculture Minister Dr H. Suswono.
"There are evolving barriers to palm oil exporters particularly to Europe now," Uggah said in a press conference after the meeting.
These include the proposal to raise domestic taxes on palm oil in France and the 'without palm oil' labelling on food products.
The latest issue is the draft proposal submitted to the European Union (EU) Parliament to ban imports of palm oil from deforested countries as a biodiesel source.
The proposal is being considered by China to ban the use of palm oil in the production of infant formula on health grounds.
"We will also monitor the developments under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the Notice Of Data Availability under the US Environmental Protection Agency," he said.
Meanwhile, both countries agreed to accelerate biodiesel programmes to increase domestic consumption of palm oil and propose measures to adress the low palm oil prices.
The prices will likely hover between the RM2,395 and RM2,438 level in the second half of this year on sustained demand from China.
In another development, Malaysia will support Indonesia's proposal to include palm oil in the list of environmental goods under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, while Indonesia supports Malaysia's proposal to include biodiesel in this list.