KUALA KANGSAR: Small-scale Orang Asli farmers can obtain a licence to sell the palm oil they cultivate by simply securing verification from their respective state governments, says Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
This provision also applies to Native Customary Rights (NCR) landowners, such as those in Sarawak, who do not possess formal land titles.
Johari said that this flexibility ensured compliance with established standards, especially as Malaysia exported approximately 15 million tons of palm oil to countries like China, India, and across Europe.
"We've seen cases where Orang Asli communities plant palm oil, but the land they use does not have a title. In such cases, they should approach the state government for verification, which we can then accept as a title," he said.
However, he made it clear that forest clearing must be done with permission, as any land cleared after 2020 will not be eligible for Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification.
Without this certification, palm oil growers will not be able to sell their produce to mills.
Johari also said that the government must be careful in managing the palm oil sector, as it contributed over RM100 billion annually to Malaysia's export value.
Earlier this week, during a Dewan Rakyat debate, Bera member of Parliament Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob called on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) to simplify the requirements for selling palm oil, particularly for smallholders from the Orang Asli community.
He said that such conditions often burdened them, especially those with unresolved land division claims.