Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries

January 20, 2021

The top palm oil producers for the first time are looking for opportunities to run an advocacy campaign in Europe. The largest oil producers of the world Indonesia and Malaysia have sent proposals to hire an advocacy firm to run campaign in Europe through the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries.

What is the issue?

According to the European Union, the producers of palm oil primarily Malaysia and clear vast areas of biodiversity rich rainforest in South East Asia exploiting migrant workers. The Union is to ramp up legislations on deforestation as a part of European Green Deal. This could restrict the use of palm oil in fuel and food. Therefore, the CPOPC dominated by Indonesia and Malaysia are looking for opportunities to launch campaigns to change the perceptions of European countries.

Background

The European Union had finalised a rule in 2019 to phase out palm oil from renewable fuel by 2030 mainly due to deforestation concerns.

Malaysia and Indonesia account to 85% of the global palm oil output. Indonesia alone produces 60% of world’s palm oil. India and China are the biggest buyers of palm oil.

Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries

It is an intergovernmental organisation. It was established in 2015. Indonesia and Malaysia are the founding fathers of the Council of Palm Oil Producing countries. The council aims to promote and strengthen cooperation in oil palm cultivation. It enhances welfare of oil palm stakeholders. It addresses the impediments to palm oil trade. The six main focus areas of cooperation of the council are sustainability of palm oil, research and innovation, productivity of small holders, industrial cooperation towards value added production, trade policy issues and technical regulations and standards.