Palm oil challenges in the West: EU ambassador insists sustainability is non-negotiable for consumers

The European Union (EU) and palm oil producing countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia have been at loggerheads for some years now over continuing opposition by the EU to palm oil​, citing claims of unsustainability which have been vehemently protested by the producers. More recently, this debate has been centred around the EU’s controversial Farm-to-Fork (F2F)​ strategy, which combines both regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives in an attempt to improve its overall food chain, but which many have said also unfairly targets produce and food products manufactured outside of the EU. “The issue here is that we are sure that this is not going to be just applicable to produce that is generated in the EU, but all produce entering the EU would be subject to this too as these have become part of the EU food chain given how highly globalised the world has become,”​ then-Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) CEO Datuk Dr Kalyana Sundram told us previously. “What is most worrying is that in ...