Palm oil: The European Union is a sore loser

Once upon a time, Malaysia was the world's largest palm oil producer.

It is believed that the first palm oil seeds were brought to Malaya by the British in early 1900 from Africa.

The rest as they say is history as Malaysia's palm oil grew by leaps and bounds to become one of the world's top 17 edible vegetable oils and fats.

Palm oil now commands huge chunk of the edible vegetable oils market alongside soyabean oil and rapeseed oil, earning the sector and the country billions of ringgit in export receipts every year.

Even though Malaysia is now the second largest palm oil producer after Indonesia, the former still packs a punch with a formidable clout and influence.

EU should admit - palm oil is the better oil

Before the "advent" of palm oil, the Western world such as the European Union (EU) used soyabean oil, rapeseed, sunflower and so many vegetable oils for consumption.

India meanwhile grew cottonseed oil to feed their population to make various food products.

However, it became dastardly clear over the past decades that the Western oil is not sustainable and is not beneficial to health.

Time and time again, the West launched a slew of tirades against palm oil.

This include accusations by the American Soyabean Association in the 1980s that palm oil is bad for health.

And time and time again, these unfounded allegations are soon debunked by numerous scientific findings spearheaded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board and other scientists from Malaysia and even researchers from around the world.

More smear campaigns

Subsequently the West continues to smear oil palm claiming it destroys the habitats of the orang utans and now in its latest salvo, the EU or the European Union is training its guns on Malaysia and Indonesia under the guise that the two countries cause deforestation.

The EU is a sore loser as it can never accept the health benefits of palm oil which does not carry trans-fatty acids and is a source of vitamin E or palm-based tocotrienol.

Palm-based diesel more efficient

The fact of the matter is, ever since the world has gone green, all of the world's 17 edible oils jumped on the bandwagon to produce environment friendly energy sources.

Research has found that palm-based biodiesel or diesel mixed with palm oil is far more efficient than rapeseed mixed with diesel.

Consumers in Europe prefer to use palm-based biodiesel compared to others.

This is the EU's bone of contention prompting it to ban palm-based biodiesel last week under the guise of deforestation.

Malaysia and Indonesia must gang up 

Analysts said that Indonesia and Indonesia must team up to convince the EU on palm oil's sustainability.

Professor Datuk Dr Ahmad Ibrahim of the Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy UCSI University said firstly kudos must be extended to the Minister of Plantations, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, for the stern warning to the EU that Malaysia will stop exporting palm oil altogether to the EU if the they persist with their negative narratives on palm oil.

"Such drastic action has been suggested earlier by palm oil sympathisers around the world to resolve the outstanding issue on palm oil’s sustainability. 

The suggestion was not taken up because both Malaysia and Indonesia opted for the more civilised diplomacy route. 

Since such diplomatic engagement has not resolved the issue, it is time for some drastic measures, including total suspension of palm oil export to the EU," Ahmad said in a statement.

Deforestation in Malaysia is almost zero

Admittedly, the proposed palm oil export boycott to the EU will hurt both sides.

Exporters here will lose out on a big export destination, the EU being among the world’s largest buyer. 

Also, the oils and fats processors and manufacturers in the EU are also not spared from such export stoppage. 

Funny enough, the major sticking point for the EU is the issue on deforestation.

"They still blame palm oil for the illegal logging that happens in the region. 

They do not want to accept the fact that, as a result of the revised rulings by both Malaysia and Indonesia to only allow sustainable logging, such incidence of deforestation is almost zero," said Ahmad.

The EU itself is guilty of deforestation

Deforestation may have happened decades ago all around the world as countries logged their forests for timber to support their economy.

Surely, as a developing country they are entitled to do that. 

The EU did the same thing when they were in the midst of their economic expansion decades ago. 

That explains why there is little forest cover left in much of the EU today. 

In fact, many are now planting back trees as part of their reforestation effort. 

"The truth is we have cleared much less forest than the EU. 

In Malaysia more than 50 percent of our land remain covered with the natural forests. If we include the oil palm and rubber, both being forest species, we have almost 80 percent," said Ahmad.

The world is now supplied by 17 types of oils and fats. 

In choosing the many alternatives, the sustainability criteria have now become more dominant, principally because of climate concerns. 

This is where palm oil stands out above most others. 

It is undoubtedly the most efficient oil crop, yielding up to 10 times higher than the competition. 

In terms of absorbing greenhouse gases emission, the oil palm is as good as other forest species.

"It is unfortunate that critics of the oil palm only pick on deforestation to justify their negative narratives on palm oil.

With deforestation becoming negligible, this is no more a justified reason to demonise palm oil.

And with deforestation out of the way, few would dispute that palm oil is the most sustainable oils and fats in the world," said Ahmad.

It is time for palm oil critics to admit this evidence and be more sensible in judging palm oil. The world needs palm oil. - DagangNews.com