Ghana shows interest in joining the fight against the EU’s anti-palm oil campaign

by AFIQ AZIZ / pic by ISMAIL CHE RUS

MALAYSIA plans to invite the Republic of Ghana to join the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) to counter any global negative perception on the commodity, along with other active members including Indonesia.

Deputy Primary Industries Minister Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said Ghana had already shown interest in joining the fight against the European Union’s (EU) anti-palm oil campaign.

“We have conveyed to them the need for a close-knit cooperation in our efforts to defend the palm oil industry against negative perceptions, especially by the EU.

“The proposal is well-received by representatives and delegates from Ghana,” he told the press after launching the 38th Palm Oil Familiarisation Programme (POFP) 2018 in Putrajaya yesterday.

Also present at the launch was Ghana’s International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Robert Ahomka-Lindsey. Ghana, which started trading the commodity in 1820, currently has a total of 305,758ha of oil palm with an estimated 243,852 tonnes of palm oil production annually.

Shamsul Iskandar said Malaysia is also aggressively approaching various countries across the region including Ethiopia and North African countries to promote palm oil product ventures to ensure the commodity’s sustainability in the global market.

“Several signing ceremonies would also be expected during the prime minister’s visit to China this week and we will see how the palm oil products will fare in the Chinese market,” he said.

Recently, the government has also chosen Bosnia and Herzegovina as Malaysia’s strategic partner to combat negative perception on palm oil among the European countries.

At the launch, Shamsul Iskandar, who delivered the speech on behalf of Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok, stated that the government expects to maintain at least 50% of Malaysia’s land under forest and green cover.

“In fact, Malaysia is relentless in taking steps to ensure mandatory nation-wide production of certified sustainable palm oil through the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil certification by end of 2019,” Kok said.

She added that the ministry will work with relevant parties, especially with the EU, to counter campaigns against palm oil and clarify issues that would be substantiated by scientific data.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s crude palm oil (CPO) will fall under 0% export duty threshold next month, as the commodity price is expected to be valued at RM2,213.73 per tonne, according to Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

A check with the MPOB website yesterday revealed that the CPO 0% threshold maintains the price at RM2,250 minimum.

In August, the commodity was valued at RM2,284.26 with 4.5% export duty.