Version January 2019
The European Palm Oil Alliance (EPOA) takes any public concern related to the sustainability of palm oil very seriously. As an alliance of palm oil refiners and producers supplying palm oil to the European food industry, with all members highly committed to sustainable palm oil development, and with clear results. The recent ESPO-monitoring report shows that 74% of palm oil used in food and feed in Europe is certified sustainable while 84% of palm oil imported into Europe is sourced under No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) policies. In view of its relentless efforts to sustainable palm oil development, EPOA has become a powerful advocate of the Amsterdam Declaration, a commitment of European member states to support a fully sustainable palm oil supply chain by 2020.
EPOA members are highly committed and take every available measure to ensure that palm oil production becomes 100% sustainable. We believe strongly in the sustainability of palm oil and our members have worked tirelessly for many years through the supply chain and its sustainability standards to guarantee the use of ever more robust agricultural practices. Therefore, EPOA is concerned about unintended negative consequences of the biofuels discussion for users of palm oil in food. Palm oil is an important and sustainable ingredient for European food products and the tone of the biofuels debate is negatively impacting the consumer and manufacturers’ appreciation and confidence.
EPOA urges all stakeholders including the EU institutions to ensure the non-discriminatory level playing field for all biofuel feedstocks, whether home grown or imported and safeguard a stable and accessible oils and fats market. Instead of calling to exclude sustainable palm oil from biofuels, we invite EU member states to join the move to sustainable palm oil development and sign the Amsterdam Declaration, a commitment of European member states to support a fully sustainable palm oil supply chain by 2020. We also call upon the EU member states to live up to the commitment to the UN global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to recognise the important contribution of sustainable palm oil the SDGs, including socio economic development, halting deforestation and preserving biodiversity, and cooperate with the producing countries to the achievement of these goals by 2030.
You may download the complete opinion paper as a PDF file here.