KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has succeeded in its World Trade Organisation (WTO) case against the European Delegated Act that is deemed discriminatory towards the country's palm oil biofuel.
Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the WTO panel had on March 5 issued its final report and concluded that the EU act that restricted palm oil biofuels, was indeed discriminatory.
"This ruling from WTO demonstrates that Malaysia's claims of discrimination are indeed justified. This vindicates Malaysia's pursuit of justice for our biodiesel traders, companies and employees," Johari said in a statement today.
His statement indirectly dismissed an earlier report by dpa news that a complaint by Malaysia against the EU over the bloc's rules on the use of palm oil-based biofuels had largely failed at the WTO.
The dispute dates to 2018 when the EU issued regulations on the minimum amount of renewable fuels that member countries must use in their transport sectors.
The EU stipulated that the use of biofuels for which forests had been cleared for planting could not be used to achieve this target. This primarily concerned oil palm crops.
Malaysia, which has a major palm oil production industry, had defended that the measures violated fair trade practices and launched a lawsuit against the WTO in 2021.
"The WTO final report clearly finds fault with the EU's use of indirect land use change to ban palm oil biofuels. It also finds fault with the EU's approach to notifying and consulting with other economies when introducing new trade measures," Johari said.
"The EU has agreed to comply with the WTO ruling before it can impose restrictions in accepting Malaysia's palm oil biofuels. The Malaysian government will closely monitor the EU's changes to its regulations to bring it in line with the WTO's findings, and pursue compliance proceedings if necessary."
He added that the government remains fully committed to defending the interests of palm oil biofuels industry players against trade barriers and discrimination.