PARIS: France does not practise any discrimination measures against palm oil, in fact, the European country is ready to explore the possibility of developing a joint agenda with Malaysia on issues pertaining to palm oil, said its Ambassador for the Environment, Xavier Sticker. No ban (on palm oil) is in place, and no ban is in view. France is opposed to any discriminatory measure that would single out any agriculture or commodity,” he told Bernama and a local English daily on the sidelines of his official visit to Malaysia recently. He said with France having knowledge and expertise on green technology, sustainability and deforestation and Malaysia directly involved in oil palm plantation and industry, both parties could merge their experiences to address the issue. We are looking at prospects for cooperation with Malaysia to ensure that the affluent from palm oil mills could be recycled and use for production of energy…This could boost utilisation of oil palm biomass to become an additional asset for the country, while at the same time, ensure less greenhouse gas emissions from the commodity. This means that more resources would be generated for the country, (and with) less (greenhouse gas) emissions, this will work towards a sustainable development for the country, the planet and the people,” he said without providing any time frame for the cooperation. On the European Union (EU) Parliament’s decision on palm-oil based biofuels ban recently, Sticker did not give a direct answer, but reiterated that France was opposed to any discriminatory measure to single out any agriculture or commodity. At this stage, of course, the EU has to recast the renewable energy directive (RED), which is committed to reduce carbon emission by at least 40 per cent by 2030,” he said. He added that France had no objection to the first generation biofuels that is currently adopted in the EU, and had no difficulty in maintaining the maximum seven per cent of crop-based biofuels in road and rail transport. What matters now is to increase the (renewable sources) level in the second generation biofuels,” he said. Although France is in favour of adopting the second generation biofuels, whereby the EU lawmakers have recommended that the renewable fuel transport target is to be increased to 12 per cent for 2030 from the current 10 per cent, Sticker said the country did not reduce the palm oil usage in food as well as industrial applications.
