UK Acknowledgement of MSPO a Huge Boost for Malaysian Palm Oil
The British government looks set, to accept Malaysia’s national program for sustainable palm oil, the MSPO.
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Fadillah Yusof with Joseph Borrell, EU's top diplomat and Indonesia's Minister for Economic Affairs, Dr. Airlangga Hartono
BNN reported:
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof’s official visit to the United Kingdom resulted in a significant development for Malaysia’s palm oil industry. The UK policymakers expressed their commitment to recognize the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification in the country’s due diligence guidelines for ensuring sustainable commodities. This positive response was received during Fadillah’s meetings with Minister of State for International Trade Nigel Huddleston and Minister of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell.
The news was widely covered by Malaysian media, including Bernama which reported that “UK is ready for MSPO certification, palm oil mission successful.”
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof’s official visit to the United Kingdom resulted in a significant development for Malaysia’s palm oil industry. The UK policymakers expressed their commitment to recognize the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification in the country’s due diligence guidelines for ensuring sustainable commodities. This positive response was received during Fadillah’s meetings with Minister of State for International Trade Nigel Huddleston and Minister of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell.
The news was widely covered by Malaysian media, including Bernama which reported that “UK is ready for MSPO certification, palm oil mission successful.”
The Malaysian Reserve report went into more details that showed how the UK acknowledgement capped a successful mission for Deputy Prime Minister, Fadillah Yusof, but challenges remain for the European market.
“Under a joint mission organized by the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC). Indonesia was represented by its Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Dr Airlangga Hartarto.
The leaders had meetings with Frans Timmermans, European Commission executive vice-president for the European Green Deal and Commissioner for Climate Action Policy; Josep Borrell-Fontelles, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; and Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.
They also met Heidi Hautala, European Parliament vice-president and a member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the Greens/European Free Alliance group, as well as Bernd Lange, MEP and chair of the International Trade Committee.”
These are meetings on the level of G2G collaborations which European industries and NGOs like FERN, have called for.
According to FERN’s report:
The EUDR is only one element of the EU’s comprehensive plan to address deforestation worldwide. Priority two of the 2019 European Commission (EC)’s Communication on Forests is to “work in partnership with producing countries" to support them to improve relevant national law and enforcement.
One such element of the EU’s plans to address deforestation is the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) which places the burden of environmental harm (deforestation?) and human rights abuses on the corporate sector. The CSDDD has been voted through by the EU Parliament. More information on the vote can be read here.
According to ESG Today:
The Commission’s proposed directive would require companies to integrate due diligence into policies, identify actual or potential adverse human rights and environmental impacts, prevent or mitigate potential impacts and end or minimize actual impacts, and would apply to company operations, subsidiaries and value chains.
In other words, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive will require companies to identify, prevent, mitigate or end impact of their activities on the environment and human rights.
The context sounds exactly the same as EUDR. As explained by KPMG, in its assessment of EUDR for companies “High Level Introduction to the EUDR,” the core requirements are to:
1.Gather geographic information (i.e. satellite imagery) on the plot of land the commodities were sourced from;
2.Assess the risk of non-compliance to the EU deforestation-free regulation; and
3.Mitigate risks to negligible levels.
UK Acceptance of MSPO A Giant Step
Until the European Union has a better solution, the relevance of the UK’s acknowledgement of Malaysia’s sustainable palm oil scheme stands out as a solution for CSDDD and EUDR if we look at the key requirements.
-Identifying, preventing, mitigating or ending corporate impact as required by CSDDD, is only possible when geolocation of supply sources, as required by EUDR, is done.
-The ambitions of these two legislations are the same even though the words used may sound different. Whereas CSDDD requires companies to implement a transition plan to limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, EUDR addresses climate change in quoting the use of global forests to fight climate change.
Meeting these requirements should not an issue for Malaysian palm oil companies like Sime Darby Plantations which has a Net-zero emissions commitment as well traceability in its Crosscheck program.
Getting the EU lawmakers in Brussels to accept the MSPO will be more challenging as Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof admitted.
In an alert from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council’s European office, MPOC-EU wrote on June 03,2023:
Malaysia should continue engaging with the EU regarding the proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to ensure that its rules are not discriminatory or overly-burdensome and that, with respect to palm oil, reliance on the MSPO standard can ensure compliance with the EU’s future due diligence requirements. Malaysia should also underline that the EU must not disproportionately affect the operators along the supply chains, especially SMEs and smallholders.
So, unless the EU has better ideas of how to implement and enforce the many legislations governing imported commodities, the actions undertaken by Malaysia and its palm oil industry must be counted towards the implementation and enforcement of CSDDD and EUDR.
Published June 2023-CSPO Watch
“Under a joint mission organized by the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC). Indonesia was represented by its Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Dr Airlangga Hartarto.
The leaders had meetings with Frans Timmermans, European Commission executive vice-president for the European Green Deal and Commissioner for Climate Action Policy; Josep Borrell-Fontelles, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; and Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.
They also met Heidi Hautala, European Parliament vice-president and a member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the Greens/European Free Alliance group, as well as Bernd Lange, MEP and chair of the International Trade Committee.”
These are meetings on the level of G2G collaborations which European industries and NGOs like FERN, have called for.
According to FERN’s report:
The EUDR is only one element of the EU’s comprehensive plan to address deforestation worldwide. Priority two of the 2019 European Commission (EC)’s Communication on Forests is to “work in partnership with producing countries" to support them to improve relevant national law and enforcement.
One such element of the EU’s plans to address deforestation is the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) which places the burden of environmental harm (deforestation?) and human rights abuses on the corporate sector. The CSDDD has been voted through by the EU Parliament. More information on the vote can be read here.
According to ESG Today:
The Commission’s proposed directive would require companies to integrate due diligence into policies, identify actual or potential adverse human rights and environmental impacts, prevent or mitigate potential impacts and end or minimize actual impacts, and would apply to company operations, subsidiaries and value chains.
In other words, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive will require companies to identify, prevent, mitigate or end impact of their activities on the environment and human rights.
The context sounds exactly the same as EUDR. As explained by KPMG, in its assessment of EUDR for companies “High Level Introduction to the EUDR,” the core requirements are to:
1.Gather geographic information (i.e. satellite imagery) on the plot of land the commodities were sourced from;
2.Assess the risk of non-compliance to the EU deforestation-free regulation; and
3.Mitigate risks to negligible levels.
UK Acceptance of MSPO A Giant Step
Until the European Union has a better solution, the relevance of the UK’s acknowledgement of Malaysia’s sustainable palm oil scheme stands out as a solution for CSDDD and EUDR if we look at the key requirements.
-Identifying, preventing, mitigating or ending corporate impact as required by CSDDD, is only possible when geolocation of supply sources, as required by EUDR, is done.
-The ambitions of these two legislations are the same even though the words used may sound different. Whereas CSDDD requires companies to implement a transition plan to limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, EUDR addresses climate change in quoting the use of global forests to fight climate change.
Meeting these requirements should not an issue for Malaysian palm oil companies like Sime Darby Plantations which has a Net-zero emissions commitment as well traceability in its Crosscheck program.
Getting the EU lawmakers in Brussels to accept the MSPO will be more challenging as Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof admitted.
In an alert from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council’s European office, MPOC-EU wrote on June 03,2023:
Malaysia should continue engaging with the EU regarding the proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to ensure that its rules are not discriminatory or overly-burdensome and that, with respect to palm oil, reliance on the MSPO standard can ensure compliance with the EU’s future due diligence requirements. Malaysia should also underline that the EU must not disproportionately affect the operators along the supply chains, especially SMEs and smallholders.
So, unless the EU has better ideas of how to implement and enforce the many legislations governing imported commodities, the actions undertaken by Malaysia and its palm oil industry must be counted towards the implementation and enforcement of CSDDD and EUDR.
Published June 2023-CSPO Watch
|
|
|