Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries slams EU for biased anti-palm oil stance

In Belgium, the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) says the European Union’s decision to target palm oil was based on uncertain science and outdated knowledge which was used in counterintuitive policymaking.

Despite continuous criticism from the palm oil industry, the EU appears to be indifferent when it comes to the politics of trade, affirming its protectionist and discriminatory policy, it said.

CPOPC argues the RED II Delegated Act on the determination of high Indirect Land-Use Change (ILUC)-risk feedstock drew on the results of consultation exercises undertaken by the Commission with “experts and stakeholders” in 2018 and 2019 dominated by European groups who were perceived as advocates for the fossil fuel industry.

The CPOPC has from the very beginning held the view that the ILUC approach being used by the EU to categorize feedstocks into high ILUC-risk and low ILUC-risk is flawed.

The ILUC scheme is not consistent with the actual business model and operational practice of palm oil companies; the criteria are not implementable and potential impacts on smallholders is not yet assessed, it said.

Furthermore, ILUC is uncertain because it is dependent on several assumptions that cannot be empirically tested and demonstrated, it continued.