KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Primary Industries led by the Secretary General, YBhg. Dato’ Dr. Tan Yew Chong is currently in Brussels, Belgium to participate in the Stakeholder Meeting On High And Low Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) Risk Biofuels Under The Recast Of The Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED II) on the 5^th March 2019.  He is accompanied by the Ambassador of Malaysia to Belgium, H.E. Dato’ Hasnudin Hamzah and high level officials from the Ministry, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysian Palm Oil Council and Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council.
 
The Ministry’s participation in the workshop is important to provide clear, accurate and scientific based information to stakeholders with regard to the Draft Delegated Regulation of the EU RED II. The Draft Delegated Regulation has been found to be lacking in transparency, scientific credibity and many of the assumptions therein fail to reflect the actual sustainable practices in the industry.
 
Furthermore, it is  biased against palm oil biofuels compared with the other crop-based biofuels. We therefore concluded that overall, palm oil has been unfairly labeled as a high ILUC risk among the eight (8) feedstocks cited in the draft regulation. These actions create unwarranted barriers to our sustainable practices in the industry and overall impedes free trade.
 
Malaysia strongly urged the European Commission (EC) to look at the Draft Delegated Regulation in a more holistic, balanced and unbiased manner before implementation. Malaysia wishes to reiterate that the classification of all palm oil produce as a high ILUC risk biofuel feedstock in unacceptable since such damaging findings are obtained by erroneous and biased interpretations by the EC. This will have significant deterimental effects on palm oil producing countries who depend on this industry to raise the socio economic well being of their people  and to help these nations achieve the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG).
 
The Ministry of Primary Industries also emphasised that it is of extreme and urgent importance for the EU to pay specific attention to Malaysia’s on-going efforts to make its entire palm oil supply chain sustainable by 1st January 2020 through its mandatory Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Certification Scheme and to accept MSPO as one of the voluntary schemes under the EU RED II.
 
Malaysia further restated its willingness to work with the EU experts to help address any concerns regarding the draft Delegated Regulation that aims to classify all palm oil produced as high ILUC risk.
 
Ministry of Primary Industries Malaysia
5 March 2019
 
Source: Ministry of Primary Industries Malaysia
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name: Kartina binti Hamzah
Tel: 03-88878236
Fax: 03-88878205
 
--BERNAMA