Indonesia and Malaysia — the world’s two largest crude palm oil (CPO) producers — seek to jointly professionalize dispute management on environmental issues and public relations to counter EU negative campaigns.

Indonesian Palm Oil Board vice chairman Derom Bangun admitted that a memorandum of cooperation between the two countries’ producers just inked last Friday  did not include a dispute settlement mechanism if CPO buyers unilaterally revoked contracts with their suppliers over environmental issues.

“No, there is no specific point [on a dispute settlement mechanism stipulated in the memorandum],” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

“[But] perhaps that will be in place later during the joint implementation of the memorandum. What was signed was only a cooperation framework,” he said.

The memorandum was signed by the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) and the
Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA).

The Indonesian Oil Palm Farmers Association (Apkasindo),the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation
Owners Association (SOPPOA),the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and the Association
of Plantation Investors of Malaysia in Indonesia (APIMI) are also
involved.

The memorandum is aimed at mitigating negative campaigns on palm oil, while setting up a task force on best sustainable development practices, Antara reported.

Agriculture Minister Suwono, who also attended the signing, said Indonesia and Malaysia, controlling 85 percent  of the world’s output and could control global prices, as well as fight negative campaigning which claimed producers were clearing rainforests illegally.

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