The world’s two largest palm oil producers, Indonesia and Malaysia, are leading international criticism of a planned EU deforestation law they say is protectionist and discriminatory.
The legislation, preliminarily agreed between MEPs and EU and set to be approved by the European parliament at a plenary vote in late March, is the first in the world to ban imports of products linked to deforestation, including cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, wood and rubber.
Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta have asserted that the legislative process lacked proper consultation, with Malaysian deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof calling it “a deliberate act by Europe to block market access” and threatening to ban palm oil exports to the EU.