Malaysian palm oil industry fights back against EU challenges

The Malaysian palm oil industry is taking great strides to “set the record straight” about palm oil sustainability by introducing a mandatory program so that all producers will be certified over the next three years.

In a bid to “change the conversation” about palm oil, the Malaysian industry wants much more focus on the sustainability aspects of the leading ingredient, rather than the controversies that have surrounded palm oil in recent years.

And now the MPOC has issued its latest position paper which aims to bring what it describes as “more realistic perspectives” to EU policy measures about the use of palm oil.

MPOC is calling for policies based on objective evidence and the complex realities of palm oil production and warns that current EU recommendations are based on “flawed and/or misinterpreted research.”

The MPOC position paper, “Building a Sustainable Future Together: Malaysian Palm Oil and European Consumption,” was published in the January 2018 issue of the Journal of Oil Palm, Environment and Health.

The paper was prompted by the European Parliament’s “Palm oil and the Deforestation of Rain Forests” resolution passed in 2017 which is about seeking ways to reduce the environmental impact of unsustainable palm oil production, and advocates the elimination, by 2020, of the use in biofuels of vegetable oils linked to deforestation.

The European Union Environment Committee voted to ban the use of palm oil in biodiesel last October which was then endorsed by the EU’s Industrial, Research and Energy Committee. European Parliament is expected to vote on the matter soon.

Author of the MPOC’s position paper Dr. Kalyana Sundram calls for complete transparency in the palm oil debate.

 
“This paper attempts to portray that the truth behind palm oil is not a simple dichotomy of good versus bad,” he said. “Rather it is more like the ocean: lots of hidden currents and eddies. Moreover, there is also some ugliness on all sides of the debate which should not be buried under the surface.”

 
There are no one-size-fits-all solutions, according to the MPOC.

The 2017 EU resolution calls for measures to combat deforestation in the tropics as well as the associated effects on climate change and biodiversity. The resolution’s two main recommendations, to be accomplished by 2020, are the phasing out of palm oil as feedstock for biodiesel and switching to 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil.

 
The Malaysian palm oil industry has said that it stands strongly for planet and people. As the country’s number one export, Malaysian palm oil makes up more than 50 percent of the palm oil imported to the US, used in many formulations for baked, snack and grocery products.

“Malaysia is acutely aware of the environmental challenges planet earth is facing. It considers itself part of the international community that strives to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, protect natural habitats and pursue patterns of sustainable production and consumption,” state the authors.

 
“However, we are concerned that the European Parliament and Commission have been misled by false assumptions to pursue a path towards these goals that leads somewhere else: to an outcome that will leave consumer and producer countries as well as the global environment worse off.”

 
They add, “Our globalized, interdependent world has grown complex. And while the need to protect the world's ecosystems is surely something we all agree on, there can be no simplistic, one-size-fits-all solutions.”

 
The MPOC position paper points out that “for years discussions, often heated, have been going on over the impact of palm oil production and consumption on human health and the natural environment.”

 
However, the issues aren’t as clear as some presume, claims the MPOC.

 

The paper refers to the Cobra Effect, which is when an attempted solution has the unintended consequence of worsening the problem. For example, other oil crops including soy are much worse deforestation, offenders, they say.

Malaysia’s comments on the EU’s two primary goals
Regarding the EU’s primary resolutions, the MPOC position paper states: Sustainability Certification: “We emphasize that the realities of palm oil production and trade on the ground are far too complex to be covered by a single European certification scheme.”

“In our view, certification standards must be set and enforced on a national level. That is why we choose to invest heavily in building the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil standard (MSPO). On the other hand, we see the concerns the European Parliament has regarding transparency and clarity of different certification standards vis-a-vis the consumer. We, therefore, propose to look for ways to make standards comparable.”

2019 targets for 100 percent MPSO-certified palm oil
Last November FoodIngredientsFirst reported how, by the end of next year, Malaysia plans to have 100 percent of its palm oil MSPO certified.

MSPO certification addresses the environmental, social and economic aspects of palm oil production. In addition to protecting forests and wildlife, MSPO is about the cultivation, processing techniques and providing a living wage for everyone employed by this industry, including the 650,000 family farmers (smallholders).

MSPO standards include prohibiting deforestation, dictate clear and strong requirements on palm oil industry workers’ health and safety, and encourage biomass recycling and zero-burning practices.

On the issue of biofuels, the paper states: “The debate over the implications of the so-called “Globiom Report” which applied the concept of indirect land use change to the calculation of the overall greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels has been going on for years without having been settled. In our view, to phase out biofuels on that basis, in fact, amounts to a violation of the precautionary principle.”

 
The report goes on to discuss some of the major biofuels vs. fossil fuel concerns, pointing out: “A full evaluation of these factors might lead to the conclusion that the alleged cure of abandoning biofuels is worse than the disease.”

MPOC concludes that “Malaysia is keen to bring its century-long experience, and extensive expertise in all things palm oil to the table. Only working together will make solutions possible that are better for all stakeholders involved, including the earth's ecosystem.”