KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must continue to engage with the European Union (EU) and EU stakeholders to ensure that perspectives from producing and exporting countries are taken into consideration.
“(The continued engagement is important) as it can possibly contribute to the shaping of future legal instruments that will serve as examples in other jurisdictions around the world,” said the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) in a statement.
The MPOC said it would ensure Malaysia’s involvement in bilateral and multilateral contexts in the following key elements – the mutual recognition of key sustainability standards and frameworks; acceptance and recognition of the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) scheme and the inclusion of dedicated provisions on smallholders in any current or future regulations.
EU is currently working on a number of legislative files aimed at addressing deforestation and ensuring the sustainability of products that will have an impact on many commodities, including palm oil.
Further legislative and regulatory initiatives impacting forestry, including a new regulation aimed at improving nature restoration, a proposal for certifying carbon removals, and an EU Forest Monitoring Framework will be further discussed by EU stakeholders in the coming months.
Many of the various policies and legal instruments under discussion in the EU will have an impact on palm oil and are poised to set global benchmarks, “as the example of the US Forest Act very well shows,” it said. –Bernama