Malaysia joins Indonesia with WTO threats to the EU over palm oil

In Malaysia, over the weekend, the government threatened to challenge the European Union via the World Trade Organization if the EU continues to phase out palm oil from transportation fuel. Malaysia’s foreign ministry responded to the EU’s plan to phase out palm oil that was published on Wednesday as a “calculated political act” aimed at removing its palm oil exports from the EU marketplace, according to Reuters.

“Such an aggressive trade barrier targeted at Malaysia’s national interests, and our 650,000 small farmers, cannot pass without a strong response,” the ministry said in a statement according to Reuters. “The Malaysian government does not accept that the Delegated Act is justified on scientific or environmental grounds. No convincing explanation or data have been provided to justify the discrimination against Malaysian palm oil.”