Author: Khalil Hegarty

RED: A week on the edge The situation on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) in Brussels last week reached something of a fever pitch. As noted in last week’s edition, there is significant tension within Brussels as to how to deal with the Delegated Act – the implementing regulation for the RED. The tension is […]

What is Happening to the EU-ASEAN Relationship?  The discontent between palm oil producers and the EU – which has been bubbling now for several years – has now broken into the open, with ASEAN allies lining up alongside Malaysia and Indonesia. Several events and news reports from recent days support the theory that recent EU […]

Two weeks ago, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir took the step of writing directly to French President Emmanuel Macron to protest the National Assembly’s Finance Bill – and the President signing it into law. The new law ‘declassifies’ palm oil under the country’s renewable energy scheme, meaning it will no longer receive a renewable energy subsidy. […]

Darell takes swing at EU Malaysia’s Trade Minister, Datuk Darell Leiking, has taken a swing at the EU’s broader approach to both palm oil and its trade partners in ASEAN. At an industry meeting last week, Darell said that “If [EU policymakers] keep on attacking our palm oil industry that means their intention is not […]

A New Year Exclusive One week into 2019, palm oil policy is heating up. Two major policy developments took place in the days leading up to Christmas. First, France instituted a new ban on palm oil; second, the EU set up a RED approval for US soybean, potentially squeezing out palm oil. We look at […]

As the EU institutions return from their extended Christmas and New Year holiday, our Brussels sources inform us that the controversy around palm oil in 2018 looks to continue well into 2019. The EU’s progress on its Delegated Act on biofuels (including palm oil) continues, although not without difficulty, especially on the timeline. The Delegated […]

Malaysia keeps up the pressure at the WTO Malaysia has again taken the EU to task at the WTO for its approach on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Malaysian officials circulated a note earlier this month following the last Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) meeting. The note gets to the heart of the matter in […]

A group of researchers from Purdue University published a paper last week that claimed RSPO or sustainability certification for palm oil is no better than non-certified palm oil. The paper has received some international attention from newspapers such as the UK’s Independent, which went on to imply that all palm oil is bad. The basis […]

Norway excludes palm from biodiesel Norway has attempted to follow the lead of the European Union and exclude palm-based biodiesel in its biofuels programs. The Norwegian Parliament passed a proposal that called on the current government “to formulate a comprehensive proposal for policies and taxes in the biofuels policy in order to exclude biofuels with […]

Some questions on Greenpeace and Wilmar Palm giant Wilmar appears to be taking a harder line on Greenpeace than ever before. Wilmar’s stance comes after a group of Greenpeace activists boarded a ship off Spain, calling on food manufacturer Mondelez to drop Wilmar as a supplier. Wilmar is understandably incensed given the commitments made at the […]