KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will introduce the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) as the National Standard from next year, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said yesterday.

He said the new standard would outline the principles and criteria for Malaysia’s palm oil certification in terms of sustainability.

“The Malaysian Standard is still in the process of approval,” he said.

Uggah said the MSPO as the national certification standard would also take into account the country’s rules and regulations as compared to the existing standard initiated by the industry — the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

“We feel the palm oil industry in Malaysia should have its own standard as we find various disadvantages in complying with the RSPO.

“Many of our small and medium oil palm holdings are not RSPO-compliant. It is also costly and not much premium is given under RSPO,” he told a press conference after the ministry’s annual consultation with stakeholders.

Uggah said the MSPO would be the branding for Malaysian palm oil and would ensure that the MSPO complied with issues of sustainability, quality and other requirements.

“The Malaysian Palm Oil Board is working hard on this,” he said.

The minister said the objective of this consultation is to get feedback from the industry on government policies and programmes and to ensure that the industry would grow and develop in line with the National Commodity Policy.

Among issues raised at the consultation are on the need to strengthen delivery services, increase productivity and quality of products, labour shortage, regulations and tax, relook on licensing and environment and enhancing infrastructures in oil palm estates.

Various measures and proposals were also suggested at the session. — Bernama

Source : The Borneo Post