ICELAND SUPERMARKETS-GREENPEACE’S ANTI-PALM OIL VIDEO CAMPAIGN IS UNFAIR, BIASED POLITICAL PROPAGANDA
 

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Primary Industries welcomes the decision by Clearcast, the UK body for approving advertising material on British commercial television networks, to disallow Iceland supermarket from using Greenpeace’s rehashed ‘Rang-tan’ video for its Christmas shopping promotion campaign.

We have reviewed the content of the video and the Good Morning Britain interview with Iceland Managing Director, and found the Iceland Supermarket campaign to be not only a political propaganda but one that shows that the ethos of greed has taken over the Iceland management. 
 
We welcome UK Clearcast’s decision and hope it will not reverse its decision, despite pressure from certain quarters. This is because the anti-palm oil campaign is unfair and misleading with disputable and unproven claims. It is our belief that anti-palm oil campaigns like these, including by NGOs, are aimed at crippling our oil palm industry by using biased and unfounded information which ultimately leads to such unfair labelling practice.  
 
They use emotions and personalities to persuade consumers that palm oil is evil and destructive. They associate palm oil with destruction of wildlife and their habitat.  

It makes us wonder whose interest Iceland is protecting – is it the orangutan that are already protected by law in Malaysia? Do they not care for the 650,000 Malaysian smallholders and the foreign workers from other Asian countries who make an honest living from the palm oil industry?
 
It is shameful of Iceland to resort to this cheap, underhanded tactic and we are disappointed with such behaviour by such an established company. This reminds us of the Western colonial attitude in the days of old when we were arm-twisted for political reasons. It smacks of double-standards as well as a blatant attempt to safeguard their products at the expense of the palm oil industry in this region.
 
The facts are indisputable – oil palm is at least four to six times more productive per hectare than other edible oils like rapeseed cultivated in Europe.
 
Let us be absolutely clear here that the new Pakatan Harapan Government led by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was voted in with a clear mandate that had emphasised on protecting the environment and safeguarding the livelihood of workers. We will not compromise.
 
We will not be cowed or stand by idly when advertisements such as the nasty one created by Iceland is allowed to wrongly influence the minds of the people in markets that are crucial to us. We will fight back, and fight back we will with facts from scientifically researched data.
 
The fact is also that Malaysian palm oil plantations are developed on agriculture land, and not permanent forest reserve. More than 50% of our land area is forest cover and we have pledged to keep it that way; can most European countries claim the same? Setting aside 50% of land area as forest cover is a significant contribution from Malaysia, a small developing country. We are a responsible member of the international community in fulfilling the collective duty of addressing climate change and protecting the world’s biodiversity for the common future of humankind.
 
Our efforts to protect our wildlife have also been internationally recognised such as our Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah and Semenggoh Wildlife Centre in Sarawak for Orangutans. And, the Malaysian palm oil industry like Sime Darby and our Malaysian Palm Oil Council are also involved in conservation efforts of the wildlife.
 
Palm oil as an ‘oil for all’ has nutritional goodness, being cholesterol-free, rich source of beta-carotene and vitamins that are beneficial to human health. Unfortunately, these positive facts are drowned out by the narratives that “palm oil is dirty”.
 
Malaysia is also increasingly subscribing to production and supply of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) and have voluntarily adopted internationally accredited sustainability standards. We have also set a goal to achieve complete CSPO for exports by end 2019 through the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil certification.
 
Therefore, the long standing criticisms over sustainability of our palm oil are disproportionate and unfair. And for supermarkets and brands, like Iceland, that admonish palm oil in the Western world, they should realise their hypocrisy when they go against their own belief in free and fair trade by instigating consumers to boycott palm oil.

TERESA KOK
Minister of Primary Industries

Issued by Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI)


SOURCE : Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI)

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Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI)
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Email : pro@mpic.gov.my

--BERNAMA