Palm oil challenges in the West: EU ambassador insists sustainability is non-negotiable for consumers Consumers in the EU are ‘demanding sustainability’ when it comes to palm oil and related food products, according to an EU ambassador, fanning the flames of ongoing strife with palm oil producing countries in the ASEAN region.
The European Union (EU) and palm oil producing countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia have been at loggerheads for some years now over continuing opposition by the EU to palm oil, citing claims of unsustainability which have been vehemently protested by the producers.
More recently, this debate has been centred around the EU’s controversial Farm-to-Fork (F2F) strategy, which combines both regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives in an attempt to improve its overall food chain, but which many have said also unfairly targets produce and food products manufactured outside of the EU.