KUCHING, May 27: Deputy Prime Minister Dato Seri Fadillah Yusof will pay a visit to the European Union as he travels to Belgium and the United Kingdom for an eight-day visit from May 28 to June 4 to explain the Council of Palm Producing Countries’ (CPOPC) stand on the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
According to the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities in a statement today, Fadillah, who is also the Minister for Plantation and Commodities, will be joined by Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs (KOMENKO) Dr (H.C) Ir Airlangga Hartarto.
“This is in response to the implementation of the EUDR announced by the EU on Dec 6 2022, which aims to prevent deforestation due to agricultural activities.
“The implementation of the EUDR is considered as a non-tariff measure that can have a negative impact on free and fair trade, especially when it is more targeted at agricommodity products involving millions of smallholders from developing countries that could potentially affect the global supply chain,” it said.
The ministry said UK is Malaysia’s 23rd most important trading partner, and is currently still negotiating to become a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
It also said therefore, it is crucial for the Malaysian agricommodity sector to further strengthen trade relations with the UK through the Malaysia-UK Joint Committee for Bilateral Trade and Investment Cooperation (MUKJC) and Forest, Agriculture, and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue.
During the official visit to London, Fadillah will hold meetings with ministers responsible for UK’s agricommodity sector, including delivering his keynote address at the International Sustainable Palm Oil Forum (ISPOF) organised by KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific (KSI) and Malaysia-Link UK.
He will also visit the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC), one of the world’s leading rubber research and development centres. — DayakDaily
