KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 (Bernama) — On 12 April 2019, Malaysia has once again raised our concerns on the palm oil restriction for biofuel at the Council of Trade in Goods (CTG) Meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The European Commission has recently adopted the Delegated Act to implement the European Union Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED II) for year 2021-2030.
The adopted delegated regulation has a strict requirement against crops for feedstock biofuels which cause deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to indirect land use change (ILUC). The crops considered as “high ILUC-risk” will be phased out by 2030. Palm oil is categorised as “high ILUC-risk” in the Delegated Act and this is clearly a form of disguised restriction on international trade and protectionist measure against the crop.