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The EU will lose this case, and Brussels knows it. Europe’s handling of palm oil is no more grounded in WTO law than it is in science. The headline is that Europe is waging a war on palm oil. But it’s so much bigger than that. To hear Brussels tell it, palm oil contributes to deforestation and global warming, and thus runs afoul of “public morals” in the European Union (EU). Indonesia and Malaysia disagree. Both sued the EU at the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that Brussels is short-changing palm oil to protect domestic biofuels, including rapeseed and sunflower oil. The… Read More

Tropical forests are being presented as a needed solution to fight climate changeMarkets including the European Union, the United Kingdom and the US are seeking to reduce the impact of their imported goods on tropical forestsThe European Union in particular, has a proposal to stop imported deforestation through a measure called Corporate Due Diligence Under the proposed rules of Corporate Due Diligence, companies that import goods from other countries must be able to confirm that such goods, were not produced on deforested lands or caused deforestation. These are laudable ambitions for the European Union which member states have a much… Read More

The European Union has a plan to stop EU-driven deforestation globallyThis is a noble ambition by the bloc as data from Earth Overshoot Day consistently shows that EU member states overuse natural resources much earlier in the year than other countriesThe EU plan to tackle deforestation in the name of climate change risks being discriminatory against developing countries To fight climate change and biodiversity loss globally, Environment MEPs want only deforestation-free products to be allowed on the EU market. The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee today adopted its position with 60 votes to 2 and 13 abstentions on… Read More

Major commodities supply chains have been disrupted throughout this year, causing extreme price oscillations and shortages in the availability of many food commodities. Among the most impacted is edible oils, with sunflower oil topping the list, given that Russia and Ukraine account for more than 70% of global sunflower oil production. Many prominent food manufacturers and distributors, particularly in Europe who had previously declared their commitment for “No Palm Oil” labels have sheepishly begun a journey that chooses now to revert to palm based formulations in order to help sustain their market shares. Critics who championed against palm oil as… Read More

“Humanity’s greed seldom respects boundaries. But even when such boundaries are finally recognized, it often may be too late”. This also rings up the quote from Sir David Attenborough, “I’ve had the most extraordinary life. It is only now that I appreciate how extraordinary”. News clippings reported the market turbulence of vegetable oils worldwide Curiously these quotes now seem very apt, as the world screams shortages of cooking oils brought forth by the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Media expose of the rows and rows of empty supermarket shelves as a result of the disrupted edible oil supply chain are a grim reminder… Read More

Emphasising on the awareness of the palm oil’s sector importance for millions of smallholders in the producing countries and building on undeniable academical findings, the webinar “How sustainable vegetable oil production contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals” was an excellent occasion to discuss, in front of a wide international audience, the main issues around palm oil’s role in the attainment of the UN SDGs. Opening the events, Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Yusof Basiron, CPOPC’s Executive Director, emphasized that palm oil is the most effective vegetable oil when it comes to land use and it is increasingly being produced in a… Read More

Oil palm plants are able to produce biomass that has the potential to replace fossil oil in a sustainable manner. Its main products, palm oil, is able to make a positive contribution to the economy of rural communities effectively in palm oil producing countries, especially Indonesia. However, as an Indonesian student studying in France, I see that the treatment of European society, especially France, towards palm oil and its derivatives, tends to be unfair. I said unfair because The European Commission issued a draft regulation aiming to ban the sale on European soil of soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa… Read More

During these past two weeks the world has been glued to events unfolding as a result of the on-going Russia-Ukraine war. The loss of human life and carnage of all things associated with this is definitely not warranted and prayers are said that this conflict ends soon. While the Russian stranglehold on the supply of petroleum and gas to most of the European Union is well highlighted, not many realize that this conflict has also put a tightening noose on one of the major global edible oils used for human consumption. Indeed, Ukraine and Russia are the major producers of… Read More

Shanghai, China, March 2, 2022, – On March 1, the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC), an intergovernmental organization for palm oil producing countries, organized a webinar themed “The Vital Role of Sustainable Palm Oil in China’s Future Nutritional Needs”. The webinar discussed the nutritional benefits of sustainable palm oil over other edible oils and the current palm oil consumption trends in China. It also highlighted sustainable palm oil’s enormous potential to meet China’s growing demand for edible oil, while also providing health benefits to its consumers.   Eminent industry experts, including Datuk Dr. Kalyana Sundram, Consultant at CPOPC, Prof.… Read More

Image: Shutterstock Consumers including housewives making dietary decisions, remain highly confused particularly about the nutritional value of oils and fats in their food choices. This is much concerning, yet the confusion persists and often forces the well-meaning housewife into an incorrect dietary decision. A glaring example of such misleading information is the blog post by Marie Dannie entitled “Adverse Effects of Palm Oil”, and uploaded on the website: livestrong.com Understandably the author, like many others assumes palm oil is an easy pick and whatever adverse information spoken around it will likely be taken as the gospel truth. What a great… Read More