Malaysian Palm Oil Safe, Healthy, Minister Mah Tells EU

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has assured the European Union (EU) that its palm oil is not only safe and healthy but also being cultivated with good agricultural practices. In a statement Friday, Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Mah Siew Keong, said the country's palm oil industry was subjected to 60 regulations covering a wide spectrum of laws such as food safety, environment and labour. "Malaysia also upholds its commitment at the Rio Summit 1992 to retain at least 50 per cent of the land area under forest cover. "It is clear the industry in Malaysia is heavily-regulated," he said. Mah held a briefing on food safety and sustainability-related issues of Malaysian palm oil for ambassadors from EU Countries at the ministry last Friday. The briefing was organised in conjunction with the celebration of 100 years of oil palm commercialisation in Malaysia. The EU delegation was lead by Maria Castillo Fernandez and participated by 15 ambassadors and representatives from EU countries in Malaysia. During the briefing, Mah stressed Malaysia's concern about the growing anti-palm oil campaign in the EU, including linking palm oil to health and deforestation issues. He pointed out that the industry in Malaysia has contributed enormously towards socio-economic development of the country. Mah expressed hopes that the EU countries would continue to support Malaysia's efforts in giving Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification greater recognition. "This industry is also an important source of export earnings where in 2016 total exports were valued at US$14.53 billion (RM64.58 billion). "Currently, the palm oil industry in Malaysia provides jobs to close to one million people covering both the upstream and downstream sectors," he said. In the meantime, he said, the EU was an important export destination for Malaysia's palm oil products. "Malaysia's export of palm oil and palm-based products to EU were recorded at 3.63 million tonnes valued at US$231.75 million (RM10.30 billion) last year. "Among the major products exported were palm oil, palm kernel cake and oleochemicals," Mah said. --BERNAMA