MALAYSIA-RSPO

MALAYSIA-RSPO
MALAYSIA NEEDS TO PLAY ITS ROLES IN RSPO
By Wan Nor Azura Mior Abd Aziz
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- Malaysia needs to play its roles correctly
in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and has a choice of walking
away from the RSPO process if it is going to undermine the palm oil industry.
RSPO secretary-general Dr Vengeta Rao, in stating this, said the country
could benefit from the roundtable process as it was meant to improve the
environment and to improve productivity in agriculture.
"However, if it allows itself to be bullied, of course you would be
bullied," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the 7th Roundtable Meeting on
Sustainable Palm Oil here today.
"Because Malaysia was part of the formation, to leave it, you should give a
reason. It is not that you cannot leave the RSPO, you can leave the RSPO," he
said.
However, Malaysia could walk away from the RSPO process if it felt that its
views were ignored and the requirements set unfair to the industry, he added.
He was asked to comment on a report that western environmental
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were like schoolyard bullies, taking
advantage of palm oil producing countries.
The report quoted Don D'Cruz, a specialist who spent a decade fighting NGO
campaigns, as saying that the RSPO process, although good-intentioned, was
likely to cause a great deal of damage to the palm oil industry in countries
like Malaysia and Indonesia.
Rao said if there were matters in RSPO unfair or unreasonable to Malaysia,
such as non-tariff barriers, the country has to make its view clear before
deciding to walk away from the roundtable.
With this, other stakeholders would have an opportunity to consider whether
something could be done to resolve the issue, he said.
According to Rao, all stakeholders are concerned about the palm oil
industry.
"Indeed at the 6th roundtable, the Indonesian delegation walked away during
the general assembly but Indonesia remained as a member of RSPO as all parties
concerned have agreed to compromise," he said.
RSPO is a non-profit association that unites stakeholders from seven sectors
of the palm oil industry, comprising palm oil producers, processors and traders,
consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental and
nature conservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and social or
developmental NGOs.
Aim of the association is to develop and implement global standards for
sustainable palm oil.
Rao said Malaysia as a producer may not be happy with the RSPO but as a
global supplier, it cannot decide on its own how it will produce palm oil.
He agreed that the RSPO process was costly, saying that to be a member of
RSPO required two thousand euros a year.
He added that RSPO members are also required to pay between US$1 and US$3
per hectare to obtain the RSPO certification.
Rao said the cost, however, would also depend on the company's size and its
business volume.
"They will also need to pay the auditor, and with the RSPO certification,
their palm oil will be at higher price," he said.
On whether the RSPO was created out of a desire by western food
multinationals to head off what they viewed as an inevitable campaign on
palm oil, Rao said western food multinationals are important as they are large
buyers.
However, the global palm oil market is not only focusing on western food
multinationals as there are other markets for the industry, he said. -- BERNAMA
WNA LC