NORTH America, Japan and South Korea are among the new, growing markets for sustainable palm oil that Malaysia should focus its energies on developing instead of obsessing over Europe, said the world’s top sustainable palm oil certification body.

The comment from Bakhtiar Talhah, CEO of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), comes as Malaysia struggles to keep access to the European Union, its second largest customer for crude palm oil (CPO).

The EU passed a law last month to phase out the use of CPO as biofuel. Last year, Malaysia exported about 1.9 million metric tonnes of CPO to Europe, 45% or 800,000 metric tonnes of which was used in biodiesel.

Bakhtiar dismissed the European market as a “lost cause” because of its deeply negative perception of the edible oil.

At the same time, he said the Malaysian government and companies should start promoting products made with sustainable palm oil so that locals can choose to support producers who are more environmentally-conscious and ethical.

“Instead of worrying so much about Europe there are other bright spots in the world,” Bakhtiar said on the sidelines of a palm oil forum organised by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS).

“The United States, Japan, South Korea are new growth areas who are interested in using more and more sustainable palm oil products,” said Bakhtiar.

“The biggest growth in RSPO members lately has been in North America where big brands want to use more sustainable palm oil in their end products,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

RSPO has gone to great lengths to promote sustainable and ethically produced palm oil in Europe over the past two decades but many in Europe remain sceptical, Bakhtiar said.

“Instead of appeasing just the Europeans, why not think of our own Malaysians and get more producers to be sustainably-certified and get more Malaysians to buy sustainable palm oil?”

Sustainably-produced palm oil can lead to safer working conditions for smallholders, better wages for workers and more protection for the surrounding environment.

Of the 5.85 million ha of palm oil planted in Malaysia, only 518,794ha, or 8.9%, are certified by the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil Council.  

Only 4% of palm oil plantations worked by independent smallholders are MSPO-certified. Organised smallholders such as Felda and Felcra and big companies are 22% and 55%, respectively,  MSPO-certified.

The government aims to get all palm oil planted in Malaysia MSPO-certified by next year.

“Why should only the worker at a big plantation use protective gear to handle pesticides, but the uncle who operates the smallholding not?” said Bakhtiar.  

Unlike in the Western countries, food products made from sustainable palm oil and clearly labelled thus have yet to make their appearance in Malaysia’s supermarket shelves.

This should change he said.

Just like organic products, items made from sustainable palm oil may be more expensive but more affluent consumers can choose to support ethical producers, said Bakhtiar. – July 5, 2019.