04/07/2011 (Jakarta Post) - The Indonesian government has stated its objection to Australia’s Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling-Palm Oil) bill 2010.

According to the government, the bill is discriminative toward palm oil.

“The bill said that the fat content in palm oil is higher than oil from plants or other vegetables,” Trade Ministry’s Director for Bilateral Trade Cooperation Pradnyawati said Friday as quoted by kompas.com.

Indonesia sent a letter to state the objection on June 27.

The Australia parliament website states that the bill "Amends the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 to require Food Standards Australia New Zealand to develop and approve labelling standards to be used by food producers, manufacturers and distributors of food containing palm oil."

According to the website, one of the main considerations in the inquiry is "That allowing palm oil to be listed a "vegetable oil" on food packaging is misleading to consumers" and "that manufacturers should be encouraged to use sustainable palm oil in their production process and subsequently use the status of "Certified Sustainable Palm Oil" under this Bill".