Ref. Ares(2018)396094 - 23/01/2018
Ref. Ares(2018)782404 - 09/02/2018
PALM OIL: SET THE FACTS STRAIGHTS
The EU is the second largest market for Indonesia's palm oil exports,
second only to Indonesia. EU palm oil imports from Indonesia
account for more than €3 billion per year.
A large share of Indonesian palm oil exports is entering the EU duty
free or at a reduced rate.
There is no specific EU regulation forbidding companies to label
their products "palm-oil free". In fact, the EU has no authority to
contest such labelling practice. The provisions of the recent EU
regulation on the provision of food information to costumers, (i.e.
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011) are not discriminatory, as the EU
labelling rules apply to all types of oil (e.g. olive, palm, rapeseed
etc.). Provided the claim is not false and does not mislead the
consumer (e.g. on health impacts) the EU cannot prevent a
manufacturer from stating that a product is free of certain ingredient.
The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and its sustainability
criteria are not discriminatory: biofuel sustainability criteria treat all
sorts of biofuels and bio liquids equally. They include requirements
for GHG emission savings and protection of land with high
environmental value in the production process. The EU uses a
science based methodology and the calculation of GHG emissions is
not based on the origin but on the feed-stock and the technology
used. Biofuels that do not meet the emission savings thresholds or
other sustainability criteria can still be imported freely and marketed
in the EU but cannot benefit from incentives.
Anything that Indonesia can do to ease environment and health
related concerns on palm oil will ease current difficulties and
perceptions.
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