KUALA LUMPUR: Thailand has expressed its commitment to work together with Malaysia and Indonesia – the world's largest palm oil producers – to fight the European Union's (EU) "discrimination" against the commodity.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government had set regulations to ensure that the palm oil produced met the international food safety standards of importing countries, including EU requirements.
"I'm pleased that the new prime minister Srettha (Thavisin) has given his assurance that Thailand would come on board to work together in presenting our case, particularly to the EU.
"In my recent meeting with the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, he has given his assurance, as the largest palm oil importer in Europe, to show better understanding and empathy to the concerns of the industry," he said in his speech at the launch of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) International Palm Oil Congress and Exhibition 2023 (PIPOC 2023) today.
Anwar said Malaysian agri-commodity products, primarily palm oil, timber, cocoa, and rubber exports would also be subjected to the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR), which is expected to take effect beginning January 2025.
EUDR was introduced to prevent sales to or within the EU of palm oil, soy, coffee, cocoa, rubber, timber and beef grown or raised on land deforested after 2020.
Under the regulation, all companies involved in trading these products and their derivatives must adhere to strict due diligence requirements when exporting to or selling within the EU.
"While we agree with the spirit behind this regulation, we urge that the implementation must be carried out in a fair and balanced manner.
"Working together with Indonesia, the establishment of the EUDR Ad-Hoc Joint Task Force aims to make sure that the outcome of this regulation will not have an adverse impact on the livelihood of our agri commodity producers, especially smallholders," said Anwar, who is also finance minister.
The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) had previously approached Thailand to join, along with African countries like Ghana and Nigeria as observer countries.
If countries like Thailand and Papua New Guinea join the council, it would gather about 93 per cent of world palm oil producing states, deputy secretary general Datuk Mohamad Nageeb Ahmad Abdul Wahab was reported as saying.