KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil is highly efficient and productive than other oils per acre, which makes it cost-effective and environmentally beneficial, says former member of the European Parliament, John Longworth.

Sharing his comment in the UK-based Daily Express, the chairman of the Independent Business Network described the move by the UK government led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to eliminate import tariffs on palm oil from Malaysia and entering the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as a "triumph".

"Malaysia, like other CPTPP nations, is an allied democracy with huge growth potential. It is in our strategic interest to drive economic development - for Malaysia, that means palm oil. For others in the region, it might be nickel or textiles," he emphasised.

Longworth said palm oil is an ingredient in almost half of the items in the supermarkets. Food inputs for British businesses, and finished products for British consumers, will be cheaper.

"If the anti-CPTPP campaign thinks that higher food prices are a good idea during a cost-of-living crisis, they have badly misread the room. It is a classic example of misrepresentation of the standards argument.

"The environmental opposition is also predictably bogus: the United Nations' official data in its comprehensive Global Forests Resource Assessment show that deforestation in Malaysia is effectively zero, a fact conveniently overlooked in hyperventilating press releases and Twitter posts," he said.

He added that the UK's major palm oil refinery in Liverpool imports only certified sustainable and deforestation-free oil (because the UK market demands it).

-- BERNAMA