Zuraida noted MBA had mentioned that any knee-jerk reaction to ban biofuels from vegetable oils would cause havoc in the global vegetable oil market. – Malay Mail photo
KUCHING (June 3): The Ministry of Plantations Industries and Commodities pays heed to Malaysian Biodiesel Association’s (MBA) proposal for Malaysia to retain existing biodiesel mandate.
In a statement yesterday, Plantations Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said MBA had highlighted that Malaysia should not reduce or stop its biodiesel mandate as our biodiesel industry hardly consumed one million tonnes of palm oil annually as opposed to over 40 million tonnes globally.
She noted MBA had mentioned that any knee-jerk reaction to ban biofuels from vegetable oils would cause havoc in the global vegetable oil market.
“Nevertheless, it has to be highlighted that the concerns came at a ‘chaotic moment’ when MBA was reacting to a viewpoint by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) on April 25, that both palm oil exporting and importing countries should set their priorities right by ‘temporarily re-considering food versus fuel priorities’.
“Recall the air of desperation then when Malaysia’s neighbour and the world’s largest palm oil exporter, Indonesia, was on the verge of putting to a halt its shipments of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm olein.
“This prompted MPOB director-general Datuk Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir to convey such views against the backdrop of a choke in global edible oil supplies amid both adverse weather conditions and the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” she said in a statement today.
Zuraida said disruptions from the geopolitical tension had exacerbated price increase in food commodities to a 10-year high in the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) index.
According to her,this threatened not only a jump in global malnourishment but a spike in global inflation for developed, developing and under-developed economies.
“True enough, Indonesia declared an export ban April 28 on cooking oil and its raw material (until May 23) in the quest to make cooking oil available at affordable prices for its citizens.
“Now that normalcy has resumed, the ministry wishes to state that it is all status quo on Malaysia’s biodiesel mandate,” she said.
She stated that her ministry wanted to reiterate Malaysia’s National Biofuels Policy (NBP) rolled out in March 2006 remains committed to, among others, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rate in line with the country’s aspiration towards GHG emissions reduction target of 45 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.
According to her, the NBP is also committed to expand the use of downstream palm oil products and become an initiative to increase the income of oil palm smallholders through palm oil market control mechanisms.
On top of that, she said the NBP remains committed to help reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels as one of the energy security initiatives.
“To MBA, we thank them for their invaluable feedback on our big role and the effect of the biofuel policy towards conserving nature for younger generation Malaysians.
“We welcome all constructive criticism that enables both authorities and industry players to derive a win-win situation,” Zuraida added.