EU MP'S IMPRESSED WITH PALM OIL INDUSTRY'S CONTRIBUTION TO MALAYSIA'S WEALTH AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 (Bernama) -- European Union (EU) Members of Parliament
(MPs) are impressed with the palm oil industry's contribution towards creating
wealth and economic growth for Malaysia.

Danish MP Dan Jorgensen, who is Vice-Chairman of the Environment Committee and
Member of the Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the
European Parliament said: "We think palm oil has contributed towards creating
wealth and the growth of the country.

"As a whole, I think, it has helped take people out of poverty, which is a very
positive thing.

"The challenge now is the sustainability of the commodity.Even though progress
has been made, there is still the possibility of becoming better in this area,"
he said after a Stakeholder Roundtable Discussion on Issues Related to
Biodiversity and the Sustainability of Malaysian Palm Oil here last Friday.

Jorgensen was on a week-long visit to Malaysia together with two other EU MPs,
Martin J. Callanan (Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety)
and Ole K Christensen (Member of the ACP-EU Committee).

Also present at the roundtable was Malaysia's Ambassador to the EU Hussein
Haniff and Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) Chief Executive Officer Dr Yusof
Basiron.

Jorgensen said the next decade would continue to see an increase in
the focus on sustainability, as a competition criteria on the global stage, whether
for fuel food or any other commodity.

"We also think that from the sustainability point of view, palm oil has great
potential compared to other oils," he added.

Many have voiced concerned concern over the new sustainability criteria in the
European Union (EU) Renewable Energy Directive (RED), due to come into force
from Dec 5 this year and its impact on palm oil exporting countries like
Malaysia.

On that matter, Jorgensen expressed the willingness of MPs to assist Malaysia in
ensuring there is no discrimination against the country's palm oil export to the
region.

"Firstly, we do not want any discrimination at all of the palm oil sector. We
have promised our friends in the industry here to help them in discussions that
we have in the EU on different criteria.

"If there has been any discrimination, we will do everthing possible to change it.

"Secondly, we are at the same time, very committed to the sustainability
criteria," he explained.

The sustainability criteria is related to two issues, the lifecycle
greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels and the land used to produce the biofuels.

According to Jorgensen, the Malaysian palm oil industry can help itself by
making the issues surrounding it irrelevant, by starting to trap the methane in
the mills.

"It is already being done in some mills. If it was done in general and there was
legislation for this, it would help. But this is just a recommendation," he
said.

Christensen also noted that in many parts of western Europe, there was the
perception that palm oil is a bad thing because rainforests' are being destroyed
in order to make way for plantations.

"That's what many people believe.So, we are very gratified to get
assurances here, that Malaysia has very strict laws in place to ensure no more
forests are destroyed," he said.

He also said that it was a challenge to get this point of view across to a lot
of western audiences.

When asked whether if the RED would affect Malaysian palm oil exports to the EU,
Callanan said in the short term, the new directive would not.

He said this was because the amount of Malaysian palm oil used for biofuel is
very small.

Callanan said only 18 per cent of Malaysia's palm oil exports actually go to the
EU.

"Obviously, we understand your concerns that the EU legislation might spread to
other countries that Malaysia exports to.But only two per cent of palm oil is
used for biofuels," he added.
-- BERNAMA



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