Stop ‘no palm oil’ labelling

TODAY, Princess Astrid of Belgium will come to Malay­sia, leading a large trade and business delegation.

The mission will be primarily led by Belgian politicians: probably the Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders, and the Secretary of State, Pieter de Crem.

They will land at KLIA at a challenging moment of Belgian-Malaysian relations.

On the one hand, Belgium – like most of the developed world – has positive relations with Malaysia, and trade and cooperation is growing.

However, on the other hand, in recent years some Belgian companies – and even some political leaders – have been denigrating a key Malaysian product.

I am talking about palm oil, one of Malaysia’s major exports. Belgian companies, such as the supermarket chain Delhaize and the chocolate maker Galler, are labelling “no palm oil” on their products, in an attempt at negative marketing.

This “no palm oil” labelling should be stopped, as there are reasons to believe it is illegal under Belgian or European law.

Should we wait too long to act, we might end up with consumers convinced that they should avoid palm oil products even though everything would have been done to make the industry more conscious.

These labels place tremendous pressure on growers, on production plant owners and on the whole palm oil supply chain.

Moreover, there is pressure on small farmers in Malaysia, who cultivate 40% of all oil palm land. Why do these labels persist, when the Belgian companies must know that they are illegal?

Small farmers in Malaysia should not be subjected to such claims.

I doubt we would be asking farmers harvesting sunflower, rapeseed or even corn to produce vegetable oil to comply with the same level of standards.

The truth is that there is nothing wrong with palm oil, and those in Belgium who are denigrating it are either unaware of the benefits of palm oil or they are deliberately misleading consumers.

More ought to be said and shared about the efforts of the palm oil industry as I am sure most of its professionals feel uneasy being the only ones to talk about sustainability.

It is therefore surprising that the Belgian – or French for that matter – Alliances for Sustainable Palm Oil did not condemn the smear campaign against palm oil run by non-governmental organisations, food brands or retailers, journalists or even some politicians.

I have not seen enough support for Malaysian small farmers from the Sustainable Alliances, especially in regard to the “No Palm Oil” labels.

Whilst denigrating palm oil with these labels, the companies that use them such as Galler and Delhaize are risking the trade relationship between Belgium and Malaysia. They could also harm the image of Belgium in Malaysia.

In my opinion, Belgians must respect Malaysian products if they want to preserve a good trading relationship at a time when we all need it.

It is now a question of how Malaysia will choose to defend their small farmers against these attacks.

Malaysia should demand that the Belgian government step in against the labels and put a stop to the unjust campaign against palm oil; a message that can be conveyed by all other producing countries, and by all industry professionals, including the Belgian Alliance for Sustainable Palm Oil.

PIERRE BOIS D’ENGHIEN

Belgian agronomist and environmental scientist