KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has the potential to set the bar and be the gold standard in palm oil globally, according to the Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
He said the industry and the over 447,000 independent and organised smallholders must focus on producing high quality and high yielding fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and crude palm oil (CPO) sustainably.
"With respect to sustainability as well as other issues such as allegations of forced labour, it is important for us to be in the driver's seat.
"As producers, we should be the ones to dictate the high standards to which our industry should adhere to.
"At the same time, we should take into consideration the socio economic wellbeing of our smallholders," he said at the 35th Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference and Exhibition (POC2024) here today.
In pushing forward this narrative, Johari said the industry players must make the most out of bilateral engagements and multilateral platforms.
They include the Ad Hoc Joint Task Force on EUDR (JTF-EUDR) and the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue that was launched by the United Kingdom during its presidency of COP26.
Multilateral engagements are vital as it is the only way forward to counter the unfounded allegations and negative perception directed towards palm oil.
"Our Malaysian community of growers, processors, researchers, and traders must be united to fight off the negative perceptions against our industry," he added.