Malaysia to show EU officials its sustainable palm oil practices: Johari Ghani

New Straits Times

5 days ago

KOTA KINABALU: Plantation and Commodities Ministry will explain Malaysia's sustainable palm oil practices to representatives from the European Union (EU).
Its minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the ministry was expecting the EU delegation to visit Malaysia between September and October.
"They have already recognised our Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification. We want them to fully accept our sustainability and traceability systems.
"I'm waiting for them to come here in September or October, so they can see firsthand how we implement these practices," he told reporters after launching Malaysian International Cocoa Fair at the Sabah International Convention Centre here today.
Johari was responding to the European Union Deforestation Regulation's (EUDR)recent move to classify Malaysia as a "standard risk" country.
Malaysian Palm Oil Association chief executive officer Roslin Azmy Hassan previously said the classification could result in palm oil producers, especially smallholders, being excluded from the EU market, despite complying with national standards like MSPO.
MSPO is Malaysia's national sustainability certification that ensures environmentally friendly, socially responsible and economically viable palm oil production.
Johari encouraged commodity players in the country to adopt sustainability practices, especially if they intended to export their agricultural products.
"For the EUDR, we must comply. Even without it, many of our products are exported to Europe. Large companies with plantations, mills, refineries and oleochemical plants control the entire supply chain.
"However, we want to ensure that MSPO certification also includes smallholders. As of now, about 85 per cent of smallholders are compliant," he added.
Meanwhile, Johari said the country is gearing the cocoa sector towards climate-smart agriculture.
He believes that there was tremendous potential for the Malaysian cocoa industry thus the need to embark on a low carbon cocoa feasibility study.
"As a country, we have announced to the world that we commit to being net zero carbon emission by 2050. We also commit to reducing methane emission by 30 per cent by 2030 (and) to protect our forest cover. It must not fall below 50 per cent.
"Where are we today as a country? We are at 54 per cent. That's the reason why I have implemented a policy to make sure that there's no more deforestation in this country. We have to maximise the land that we have," he said this in his keynote speech at the launch.
He said by embarking on sustainable planting, there would be much higher yield and premium prices for the farmers to benefit from in the future.
Malaysia, he said, continues to rank among the top five cocoa grinders in the world. The country grinds around 370,000 tonnes of cocoa beans annually.
Exports have also shown an upward trend, with export volume of cocoa and cocoa products increased by 29 per cent from 530,000 tonnes in 2023 to roughly 690,000 tonnes in 2024 with a valuation of RM15 billion in the past year.
"This is a testament to Malaysia's commitment to value-added production and innovation.
"Recognising the ongoing global cocoa bean shortage as well as the many income raising opportunities for cocoa farmers, the government through the Malaysian Cocoa Board is committed to revitalising our cocoa plantations.
"These efforts are already underway as we call upon planters, investors, and cooperatives to be part of this national drive."
Johari added that the efforts in the upstream sector continue to bear fruit with cocoa bean production increasing by 65 per cent from 269 tonnes in 2023 to 445 tonnes in 2024.
"To be able to maximise value for our cocoa farmers, Malaysia is focusing on premium cocoa varieties, such as fine flavour beans, single-origin beans, and organic beans, to meet niche global demands for quality and health driven consumption.
"This will enable us to position our brand at the high-end of the value chain," he said.