The EU Fails to Support Sustainable Palm Oil

Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) denounced European Union (EU) for its decision to phase out palm oil biodiesel which is based on a unilateral and arbitrary scientifically flawed standard. It shows that the EU fails to support sustainable palm oil.

Executive Director of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) Mahendra Siregar stated that the EU’s policy curbs palm oil in the EU’s market. The EU fails to identify that oil palm plantations in Indonesia are owned by smallholders.

This is the reason why palm oil is the key to Indonesia to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). “Data used by the EU to isolate palm oil from other vegetable oils was based on a unilateral and arbitrary scientifically flawed standard. It’s been proved that the origin of palm oil can be traced until a small-scale plantation owned by smallholders which are not more than 2-hectares,” Mahendra said in a statement as quoted by Investor Daily, (15/3/2019).

Mahendra’s statement came to respond the decision of the European Commission to adopt the Draft Delegated Regulation which classifies palm oil as unsustainable “high-risk` ILUC vegetable oil. He said that the EU always claims it trades solely under WTO rules, saying that palm oil for biofuel are still allowed to be exported to the EU freely.

In fact, the EU excludes palm oil from its renewable energy directive. Apart from that, the EU classifies palm oil as unsustainable “high-risk` Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) vegetable oil, even it is based on a unilateral and arbitrary scientifically flawed standard. ***