France approves weakened palm oil tax that exempts biodiesel

In France, the national parliament has approved an additional tax on palm oil imports in an attempt to stem demand that leads to environmental damage such as the draining of peat bogs but imports for biodiesel production and those with sustainability labels will be exempt from the new policy. MPs voiced concern that currently sustainability schemes for palm oil are not very reliable because of the strong industry involvement that keeps the system from acting like the check it is meant to. Only about 4,000 metric tons of palm oil was imported for biodiesel last year compared to 62,000 tons for food use.