Malaysia, India ties up for sustainable palm oil trade, prod

The Solvent Extractors' Association (SEA) of India on Friday signed an agreement with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and Global Sustainability support organisation-Solidaridad Network Asia Ltd (SNAL). The aim of this memorandum of understanding (MoU) is to jointly promote Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) and Indian Palm Oil Sustainability Framework (IPOS) through harmonisation between the two national standards, SEA president Atul Chaturvedi said here at the Globoil annual conference.

It would lead to the joint promotion of IPOS aligned MSPO certified palm oil to Indian markets and support small holder palm oil producers in Malaysia to produce sustainably, he added. There are plans to start promotional campaigns in India to close the gap between the issues of perception, allegations and the realities of palm oil.

Time has come to prepare countries for having their own national standard, rather looking elsewhere, like Malaysia is having Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO), Indonesia is having Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and India too have Indian Palm Oil Sustainability (IPOS), Chaturvedi said. "I am confident that synergies between IPOS and MSPO would jointly safeguard the competitiveness of the palm oil industry, readiness for facing future consumer demands in the sustainable manner and fulfill the national commitments towards sustainable production and trade of palm oil," Chaturvedi said.

This would lead the way for long term sustainability of the palm oil sector in the region by reducing barriers and facilitating enhanced production and trade of sustainable palm oil, he added..