{"id":14662,"date":"2019-03-17T14:12:01","date_gmt":"2019-03-17T06:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=14662"},"modified":"2019-03-17T14:12:04","modified_gmt":"2019-03-17T06:12:04","slug":"malaysias-government-opposes-eu-act-classifying-palm-oil-as-high-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=14662","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia’s Government opposes EU act classifying palm oil as “high risk “"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo courtesy Bernama<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia’s Government opposes EU act classifying palm oil as “high risk ” government strongly opposes the European Commission\u2019s Delegated Act which classifies palm oil as \u201chigh risk\u201d, said Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement today, he said the drafting and feedback process behind the act was flawed from the start and the European Union’s (EU) claim that it was based on the relative risk of biofuels was disingenuous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn reality, the Delegated Act is a protectionist instrument to restrict palm oil in the European market. It is mind boggling that the less competitive and less efficient oilseeds such as rapeseed, sunflower oil, canola and soybean are classified as \u2018low risk\u2019,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saifuddin said the Malaysian government does not accept that the Delegated Act was justified based on scientific or environmental grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No convincing explanation or data have been provided to justify the discrimination against Malaysian palm oil. The government therefore views the EU Delegated Act not as an environmental regulation, but a calculated political act to remove Malaysia\u2019s palm oil exports from the EU marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch an aggressive trade barrier targeted at Malaysia\u2019s national interests and our 650,000 smallholders cannot pass without a strong response,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saifuddin said should the act be passed, Malaysia would look to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for recourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe hard-hitting action by the EU would undermine our nations\u2019 cooperation and mutual friendship. Therefore, this matter should be treated in a fair and non-discriminatory manner with equal treatment and access for Malaysian palm oil alongside with other oilseed feedstock,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describing the situation as highly regrettable for Malaysian palm oil producers and for European exporters, he noted that it was also avoidable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saifuddin said Malaysia had not displayed any aggression towards Europe that would provoke such a direct and targeted threat to the country\u2019s economic interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMalaysia has consistently provided evidence on the sustainability of palm oil, including the country-wide Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil certification standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is extremely disappointing that the EU, a trusted and valued friend and ally, would undermine Malaysia\u2019s national interests in this manner, as the EU had been a consistent supporter of the international trading system, based on WTO\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis discriminatory Delegated Act undermines the EU\u2019s credibility as a proponent of the WTO-led rules- based system,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the government urged friends and counterparts in European capitals and in the council to reject the act and preserve and strengthen the strong economic and trading relationship between Europe and ASEAN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia’s Government opposes EU act classifying palm oil as “high risk ” government strongly opposes the European Commission\u2019s Delegated Act which classifies palm oil as \u201chigh risk\u201d, said Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah. In a statement today, he said the drafting and feedback process behind the act was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":14663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[288,318],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14662"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}