Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui today blamed publicity-hungry NGOs in Europe as well as those with vested interests in the food industry as being behind the anti-palm oil campaign.

"Why is it that these NGOs are protesting against us? We know it is because they are seeking cheap publicity," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena).

peter chin fah kui Environmental and animal rights groups have claimed the proliferation of oil palm plantations - since palm oil prices rocketed over the past few years - has led to indiscriminate deforestation and threatened the existence of such animals as the orang utan.

Turning to food producers who - other than the bio-diesel industry - are among the main consumers of Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil, Chin said the anti-palm oil campaign coincides with the former's wishes to see lower palm oil prices.

"With the bio-diesel market, the food producers feel pressured. By selling it to the bio-diesel producers, the price of palm oil has gone up. Before bio-diesel (was in demand), the price of palm oil was low due to pressure from the food producers," said Chin.

"But now we have a choice. We can sell to the food producers and we can sell to bio-diesel producers. Because of that, they are competing today to get palm oil from Malaysia.

"For that reason, all kinds of means, such as this (anti-palm oil) campaign, is carried out," he added.

Backlash

Earlier in his reply to a question from Abu Bakar Taib (BN-Langkawi), Chin said the anti-palm oil campaign coincided with a decline in palm oil and palm oil exports to "the West, particularly to Europe."

The lower demand for palm oil, Chin noted, came from the bio-diesel industry.

Exports of palm oil and palm oil products to Western countries declined 14.2 percent to 4.21 million tons in 2007 compared to 4.91 million tons in 2006, he said.

In terms of value, however, palm oil has seen a growth of 24.5 percent from slightly more than RM5 billion in 2006 to RM7.38 billion in 2007, Chin said.

The backlash against palm oil has led to demands in Europe for a ban on the import of bio diesel derived from recently destroyed forests and uncertified producers.

The pressure had led to the set up of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification process in order to meet social and environmental criteria.