Malaysia, Indonesia, and three other palm oil-producing countries asked the European Union to suspend the implementation of a measure restricting the use of certain palm oils in biofuels during a meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Goods Council on Monday, 15 April.
Approved by the European Commission last March, this measure takes the form of a delegated act on raw materials with a high risk of inducing indirect land use change (ILUC) and on the certification of biofuels from biomass with a low risk of ILUC (see EUROPE 12213/26).
Citing not only the “negative impact on the global palm oil industry” but also the lack of scientific data, “disinformation”, and misinterpretation of palm oil production, the Malaysian representative called for palm oil to be treated the same as other oils used in biofuels.
Thailand, Costa Rica, and Colombia also came down against the EU measure.
Indonesia and Malaysia, the two main palm oil producers, also stressed that they had implemented their own environmental guarantees.
The European Commission representative replied that the measure aimed to reduce the transport sector’s carbon footprint and that no specific biofuel had been banned. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)