Two leading law experts have claimed that if proposed Palm Oil Labelling legislation were to be enacted in Australia, it would be afoul of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. The claim has been made in a research article authored by Melbourne-based lawyer Elizabeth Sheargold together with Associate Professor Andrew Mitchell  of the University of Melbourne. The article was published recently in the Melbourne Journal of International Law. The publication finding comes despite the Australian Government... ...Read more »

Australian companies are buying more certified sustainable palm oil than ever before, according to an assessment of palm oil buyers by multi-national conservation group, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The WWF today released its Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard 2011, which measures over 130 major retailers and consumer goods manufacturers by looking at their commitment to, and use of, palm oil certified to the internationally recognised standards of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Palm oil is... ...Read more »

The Australian House of Representatives’ Economics Committee has made a recommendation that a proposed Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling Palm Oil) Bill 2011 should not proceed. The Private Member’s Bill was rejected by the Economics Committee on the basis that the legislation would require the active sponsorship and facilitation by the Federal Government – which the Federal Government is unwilling to provide. Last month Australian Food News reported on the Federal Government’s... ...Read more »

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has applauded the decision by the Federal Government to oppose the Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling Palm Oil) Bill 2011. The AFGC is now urging the Coalition to follow suit. Tabled into the Australian Parliament as a Private Member’s Bill by Independent senator Nick Xenophon, the legislation was rejected by a Senate Committee in July, but passed by the Australian Federal Senate through an alliance between independent senator Nick Xenophon,... ...Read more »

Pressure from anti-palm oil campaigners on Australia’s distributors and retailers continues. The campaigns concern how palm oil should be labelled as a food ingredient. The issue is now before a Federal Parliamentary Committee inquiry in the House of Representatives. Public submissions are being invited by the committee and are due by Monday 15 August 2011. The House Economics Committee has commenced its inquiry into the Food Standards Amendment (Truth in Labelling – Palm Oil) Bill 2011 that... ...Read more »

Cargill has pledged that the palm oil products it supplies in markets including Europe and the US will be certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) or originate from smallholder growers by 2015.The US agribusiness said the commitment also covered customers in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It added that the pledge would be extended across all of Cargill’s oil and trading businesses to cover 100% of its palm oil products and all customers worldwide, including China and India,... ...Read more »

UK retailer Marks and Spencer has revealed plans to launch a brand of “healthier” milk in October, with 6% less saturated fat due to a diet for cows that removes all palm oil from their feed.M&S said the diet improved cow health and welfare, while also being better for the environment. To support its farmers converting to the new feed, M&S will introduce a new payment contract for farmers who achieve the reduced saturated fat level in their milk. The contract will recognise any... ...Read more »

Palm oil Bill unworkable and will cost industryA palm oil Bill – which compromises the nation’s food and grocery labelling system – is unworkable in its current form and must be referred to a House of Representatives Committee for further discussion and examination, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) urged today. The Australian Food and Grocery Council today called the recent Palm Oil labelling bill, passed in the Senate with amendments last week, “unworkable”,... ...Read more »

The Senate has passed an amendment to the Food Act requiring that products containing palm oil be explicitly labelled, rather than described as ‘vegetable oil’. The bill was passed by Coalition votes, and driven by Greens senator Rachael Siewert and Independent senator Nick Xenophon, both of whom have been vocal in their campaigns on the subject of palm oil. Most of the world’s supply of palm oil, an extremely common ingredient in foods and food additives, is produced in Malaysia... ...Read more »

New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL) and Singapore-based agribusiness Wilmar International, owner of Sucrogen, have established a supply and marketing deal to provide continental Europe with traceable, segregated sustainable palm oil. The venture will supply UK-listed NBPOL with palm oil from plantations in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. The palm oil will be available from Wilmar’s refinery in Brake, Germany. The refinery in Brake has... ...Read more »