Malaysia’s defence of palm oil against the EU continues, with the former’s more recent move being filing an official complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on grounds that the EU anti-palm oil campaign is in violation of WTO rules. SCMP, however, reports that experts believe Malaysia needs to improve its public relations in order to succeed in its complaint and its defence of palm oil in general. One of the interviewed experts is Segi Enam principal, Khor Yu Leng, who was quoted as below:
Khor Yu Leng, a political economist at Segi Enam Advisors, said the EU’s issues with the use of palm oil – including allegations of labour abuse within the industry, concerns over deforestation and other systemic risks – have threatened its future as a sustainable product.
“These issues need to be addressed with convincing evidence that this is of low incidence and there is an improvement plan,” she said.
“On the supply side, there has been a chronic shortage of labour in Malaysia over the years that has meant less than optimal operations and production,” she said, adding that the problems point to questions over “how the Malaysian authorities can address systemic labour market problems.”
“Flat denials from the authorities regarding deforestation or other oversights and no data transparency is a contrast to how commodity producers are nowadays aiming to charm their customers – the countries we export to,” she said.
“The other thing is to consider whether it serves palm oil‘s interest to be in the limelight too much. Being criticised on social media for poor human rights records is just not a good place to be,” she said, referring to the avalanche of bad publicity Malaysia received when the US slapped bans on the country’s top palm oil plantations.