European Palm Oil Conference

Transcription

1 REPORT European Palm Oil Conference Nutrition and Sustainability Challenges 9 th December Crowne Plaza, Brussels, Belgium Frans Claassen - Chair EPOA, Managing Director, MVO - The Netherlands Oils and Fats Industry Mr Claassen opened the conference with a warm welcome and an introductory speech in which he outlined the activities of the European Palm Oil Alliance. The European Palm Oil Alliance, he said, was founded to balance the public debate on palm oil by communicating science-based information on the nutritional and health aspects of palm oil. EPOA believes in cooperation along the entire value chain, including growers and manufacturers as well as public bodies, NGOs and consumer groups. A unique opportunity was on its way, he said, to tell the full story of palm oil and to showcase its versatility, its sustainability and its nutritional qualities as new changes to the Food Information for Consumers (FIC) regulation comes into force in the near future. Siska Pottie - Secretary General, IMACE Ms Pottie introduced the European Sustainable Palm Oil Advocacy Group, whose objective is to address criticisms relative to palm oil use at European level, to promote solutions for justified sustainability concerns and to help the up-take of sustainable palm oil in Europe. Ms Pottie pointed out that several instruments are available today to address specific sustainability concerns and that huge efforts are being done by the local producers to pave the way towards sustainable palm oil production. ESPOAG is of the opinion that promoting sustainable palm oil, including RSPO certified palm oil, is a better option than removing the ingredient from food products altogether. it should be noted that replacing palm oil and promoting palm oil free products is counter-productive as it will certainly not help to make the overall production more sustainable. 1

2 Key note - Malaysian Government perspective on palm oil The Honourable Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas - Minister of Plantation Industries & Commodities Malaysia As the first guest speaker at the conference the Minister started the debate by outlining the EU s important role in palm oil constituting 15.1% of Malaysian palm oil exportsand pointed out that Malaysian palm oil was nutritious, contributed to about 10% of the country s GDP and involved the participation of 450,000 small holders. This reinforces the importance of Malaysia s participation in any discourse on palm oil happening in Europe. He explained palm oil has equal amounts of saturated and unsaturated fats, high oxidative stability, and provides an ideal alternative in a post-trans fats diet. Although the perceptions of palm oil are not uniform in Europe, the Minister stressed that use of palm oil is neutral on health in a balanced diet. He suggested that oilseed competitors had put a negative labelling campaign on palm oil, and said that France and Belgium allowed no palm oil label campaigns which are discriminatory and not based on facts. While the Malaysian government has no issue with the labelling of all oils in consumer products, they do have an issue with discriminatory labelling which singles out the absence of palm oil alone. Key note - Indonesian Government perspective on palm oil His Excellency Mr. Arif Havas Oegroseno - Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the European Union The Ambassador reiterated the Indonesian government s commitment to sustainability, and depicted palm oil s negative image in Europe. The palm oil industry, he said, was inevitably depicted as a big powerful industry, rather than as a collection of many small holders, which was far closer to the truth, and 45% of around 9 million hectares of Indonesian palm plantation is owned by small holders. He explained these small holders make about a thousand dollars of profit per month and use palm oil to get themselves out of poverty. Mr Oegroseno was critical of European campaigns against palm oil, stating that it was like forcing small farmers in developing nations to remain poor, and pointed out that Indonesia produces far less carbon per capita than European nations. This, and several other points he made, were shown to display the two-facedness of the No Palm Oil campaigns. He also said that nutritional arguments against palm oil were not based on facts, quoting a list of scientific references showing that palm oil had no negative health effects. 2

3 Plenary Session I - Use of palm oil in food production Laurent Cremona - Global Category Director, Ferrero Mr Cremona gave a detailed analysis on how perceptions of palm oil varied within the EU, showing that consumers in France and Belgium have a bad impression of palm oil, while in the UK and Germany It is relatively good. The negative image is linked both to perceived environmental and health effects, he said. He showed how badly informed the public are and how different their knowledge of fats is across the EU. France thinks that palm oil is by far the worst fat for human health while in the UK the majority believes it is pork fat. Mr Cremona called for action to share factual information that will improve decision-making by the public. He would like those who invest in no palm oil campaigns and those who proposed anti-palm oil legislative measures to understand the negative consequences of their campaigns. In response to a question Mr Cremona mentioned that France is a large producer of butter, sunflower and rapeseed oil, and that there is a strong interest to protect these industries. He added that perceptions are so wrong in France that people think palm oil is squeezed from the trunks of trees. Towards the end of his speech, he stated we know how to replace palm oil, but it would definitely not be as sustainable nor as healthy, so why replace it with something worse? Gerrit van Duijn - President Euro Fed Lipid Mr van Duijn gave a detailed presentation on the scientific understanding of the technical properties of saturated and unsaturated fats. He described the evolution of the use of palm oil in Western society, which began with partial hydrogenation until evidence grew that trans fats caused an increase in risk of cardiovascular disease. He showed how the production of various products, including margarine, have moved towards palm oil instead, steering away from trans. He stated that by switching to healthier fats and oils, the margarine industry unknowingly got married to palm oil at that time. After listing all plausible alternatives to palm oil and the issues of price or volume production and the SAFA profile associated with each, he said that palm oil was not easily, nor cheaply replaceable without consequences on the product or its nutritional profile. 3

4 Jean Galler - Director, Galler Chocolatier Mr Galler announced in the first line of his speech that he has removed all palm oil from his chocolate products in response to the preferences of his customers. Since most of his customer base is in Belgium and France where palm oil perceptions are particularly bad, he removed palm oil for that reason alone. He praised the sustainability standards of RSPO and stated that he in fact eats palm oil himself. He explained that his role is to ensure there is no controversial discussion that can negatively impact any of his products. This means that he will follow what his customers want and that it is not up to him to judge if they are right. Palm oil content was not the only modification in recent years, he said, citing cocoa and vanilla as other ingredients which changed over the years in its recipes as a result of customer preference. The general controversy surrounding palm oil inevitably meant that he is unable to use it. Breakout Session A - Experiencing palm oil in food 4

5 Plenary Session II - A balanced oil in a balanced diet Stephanie Bodenbach - Policy Officer, European Commission DG SANTE Ms Bodenbach began by explaining why the European Commission is working in the area of promoting healthy diets in Europe. She described, among others that according to the risk assessor EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority, had concluded in a recent opinion on fats the intake of saturated fat should be as low as is possible within the context of a nutritionally adequate diet. This means, that the concept of a nutritionally adequate diet comprises a dietary pattern which provides all essential nutrients in adequate amounts as well as energy, delivering macronutrients in proportions that are known to maintain health. Therefore, in order to achieve such balanced diets foods providing also same saturated fat will be consumed. Member States have provided recommendations such as saturated fatty acids should provide a maximum or average of 10% of total dietary energy in the diet. According to EFSA, overall it would be favourable to lower saturated fat intake to improve the balance between saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acid intake. Most EU Member States, she said, have too high an intake of saturated fats compared to their national recommendations. Milk and milk products and meat and meat products are among the main contributors. Education is a national responsibility and information campaigns on healthy diets are mostly a topic for the Member States to lead on. Ms Bodenbach also stated that national policies related to health are mostly driven by Member States and, according to her knowledge, the Commission does not have any specific legislation concerning palm oil with a view to its nutritional properties; EFSA has given advice on a healthy diets with respect to nutrients intake and not on individual foods, such as on palm oil as such. Nevertheless, the EU has worked with Member States on voluntary initiatives to encourage healthier diets, including by working on reformulation of foods (e.g. improving their nutritional profile by reducing nutrients such as salt, sugars, trans fats and saturated fats). Member States have identified specific foods which they focus on in their national initiatives, for example for saturated fat initiatives many countries identified meats, dairy, school meals, ready meals, and other food categories as targets. Gerard Hornstra - Professor Emeritus of Experimental Nutrition, Maastricht University Professor Hornstra gave a scientific lecture on the effects of various fatty acid intakes on the human body. He said that the ratio between plasma total or LDL ( bad ) and HDL ( good ) cholesterol is considered the most reliable indicator of heart disease risk. Although dietary saturated fatty acids cause a higher cholesterol ratio than unsaturated fatty acids, recent meta-analyses did not demonstrate a significant association between dietary saturate consumption and cardiovascular events. Interestingly, replacement of saturated by polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet does lower cardiovascular risk, which likely results from the cardiovascular risk lowering effect of the 5

6 polyunsaturates. For food technology reasons, however, total saturated fatty acid replacement in our food is not a feasible option. Professor Hornstra continued his lecture by summarizing human studies that investigated palm oil effects on blood cholesterol levels. Taken these studies together it appeared that consuming products with palm oil does increase total cholesterol compared to similar products containing more unsaturated oils. This is a fact, which no one should ignore, he said. However given that palm oil not only increases LDL cholesterol, but HDL cholesterol as well, palm oil consumption has not shown to increase the cholesterol ratio in a significant way. Therefore, it is unlikely to increase cardiovascular risk. Furthermore data from France suggest that the consumption of saturated fatty acids from palm oil is far below the maximum levels of saturated fatty acids allowed by most (inter)national advisory bodies. Therefore, in view of the risk of heart disease, current levels of consumption of palm oil seem perfectly safe. Drivers in the market - The retailer's view on palm oil use in food products Dr Pascal Léglise - Quality & Sustainable Development Director with Carrefour Belgium 6

7 Mr Léglise gave a speech on Carrefour s strategy regarding biodiversity and forest protection, highlighting their commitment to use 100% sustainable palm oil by He also discussed Carrefour s policy of reformulating products. Having worked on reformulating 450 products, he indicated that the decision to change ingredients happened only when it can improve the nutritional profile. We do not substitute when this results in a nutritional profile that is worse. He said that Carrefour fully supports sustainable palm oil and that RSPO is a first step, it has the power to change the market, with traceability being a key issue. He felt that sustainable palm oil must not bear the cost of uncertified palm and that no deforestation must be a basic requirement. Plenary Session III - Palm oil and sustainability Jonas Hulsens - Campaigner, Greenpeace Belgium Mr Hulsens provided a more critical angle to the debate on sustainable palm oil, praising efforts made by certain companies to truly source deforestation-free palm oil. At the same time he criticized the RSPO s certification as not being stringent enough to ensure that rainforest was not being destroyed. He said that therefore, RSPO-certified palm oil is not sustainable palm oil. He referred to the need for a no-deforestation standard and cited the Palm Oil Innovation Group as an organisation which was developing viable techniques to ensure the production of deforestation-free palm oil. He challenged RSPO to either follow this example by jumping on board and fix its principles and criteria or become obsolete. In response to a question why Greenpeace is not supporting the RSPO initiative, arguing that some progress was better than none, Mr Hulsens welcomed the acknowledgment of the limitation of the RSPO scheme and said that he is hoping for further initiatives to improve RSPO s criteria and include clear no-deforestation criteria. 7

8 Marcello Brito - Commercial & Sustainability Director, The Agropalma Group Mr Brito gave a description of the lives of palm oil growers through an extended metaphor of the crab bucket. He told a story about how every player in the supply chain can only change their strategy when all other actors change at the same time, saying that when one changes independently, all the other players (crabs) will pull them back into the bucket, away from their ideals. He said this applied to sustainability as well and that it is difficult for the brave ones who try to improve standards when they are not accepted by others. Danielle Morley - European Director of Outreach and Engagement, RSPO Ms Morley described how RSPO has advanced over the past 10 years to the point where they now certify 18% of all palm oil produced in the world. Palm oil has an image problem, the industry is associated with social conflict and sustainable palm oil production is not part of the mainstream conversation, she said. Now 500 million consumers will be aware of palm oil as a result of the FIC labelling regulation, it s up to business to take action and increase the use of sustainable palm oil. The RPSO is working to increase its reach, specifically regarding the inclusion of more small holders. Being behind its 2015 goals, they will redouble their efforts in the future. She discussed efforts around traceability, deforestation and the use of peat land and referred to the vigorous debate in the sector. As far as the standard was concerned she defended its principles, saying RSPO would start kicking out members who don t submit their reports. She said that despite delivering volumes, market uptake is 50 per cent of what s available. Industry needs to maintain and improve its sustainable practices because there is a gap between supply and demand that must be overcome provides a unique opportunity to shift the EU market for palm oil, but RSPO needs the industry to help and take action now. Marieke Leegwater - Programme Manager Palm Oil, Solidaridad Ms Leegwater gave a speech stressing the importance of involving small growers of palm oil in our journey towards sustainability. She said that companies and NGOs should give more thought on how to include small growers in their programmes to work on sustainable palm oil supply chains. It is important to ensure there are sufficient incentivise for small holders to work on improvements and become certified. She called for measures to stimulate projects that work with small holders, where farmer interests are put first. Governments should promote and stimulate companies to buy from independent smallholders and recognise the efforts of companies that include smallholders in 8

9 their supply chain. She said it is important to think beyond voluntary standards to drive change and that RSPO should strengthen its strategies for the inclusion of more small holders. Involving Smallholders can also bring massive additional production, without conversion of more land, so there is a lot to gain. Jan Kees Vis - Global Director Sustainable Sourcing Development, Unilever Mr Vis gave the perspective of Unilever regarding palm oil, stating that sustainable raw materials were essential to this large multinational. All of palm oil directly bought for Unilever s food business was traceable and certified by end 2014.He indicated some areas where RSPO could improve its operations, including in its dispute resolution, but stated that Unilever remains fully committed to RSPO. He discussed the issue of traceability and the importance of being able to buy from known sources and certified sustainable mills. According to Mr Vis, the problem of traceability can be solved. He expressed a need for RSPO members to eliminate deforestation practices, do a better job on grievances and complaints and use more resources for dispute resolution. He described a future in which the whole of Europe used CSPO but asked whether the industry showed enough commitment to CSPO right now. He urged industry members to increase the uptake of CSPO and raise the bar for the rest of the industry. Key note - European Parliament perspective on palm oil Julie Girling - Member of European Parliament, ECR, United Kingdom 9

10 Ms Girling began describing her personal connection and feeling of responsibility towards South East Asia as well as her interest in protecting its environment and indigenous peoples. She said it was her job to balance the two sides of the debate on regulation, to take account of the many s asking for palm oil to be banned whilst considering the apparently silent support for palm oil, which contributes billions to European GDP. She explained that food manufacturing and processing is the largest industry in Europe and that there is a lot of palm oil in the market and that if we in Europe say we only want sustainable palm oil immediately, there will be a bit of a supply problem. She told the conference the industry was at a watershed moment and urged Europe to increase the uptake of Certified Sustainable Palm oil, offering consistent, credible and reliable criteria. She urged for better information to consumers about its guarantees, saying that the worst thing for us to do is to say we don t want you, palm oil. She also indicated a need to improve criteria and reliability of adherence to sustainable production. Without them, the EU consumer would remain suspicious and Europe would continue to see resistance (in the form of no palm oil labelling). Breakout Session B - Issues and solutions Palm oil as a product Some of the key issues raised were the fact that GMO products are not acceptable in Europe, and that not all oils were easily interchangeable. Some alternatives, such as coconut oil, were noted, and participants agreed that further work on process adaption and development should take place to use these alternatives. Pressure from retailers to lower prices were seen as an obstacle to ensuring good quality food at affordable costs, and participants suggested limiting price rises for sustainable sourced palm oil in order not to discourage consumers from buying sustainable palm oil. Another avenue they explored was using palm oil in creating 2 nd generation biofuels, in order to reduce food wastage, and participants found that lobbying through sister companies and associations should be undertaken in order to remove trade barriers to palm oil and reduce its cost. Palm oil in a balanced diet The groups agreed that palm oil replacement is not an option, and that science-based education is key for promoting understanding of the health aspects of palm oil, and generally improving the European diet healthwise. Participants agreed that education and implementing its recommendations should be easy and practical, and that national authorities, EU authorities, medical professionals including paediatricians should be lobbied in order to educate the wider public on healthy eating. They also suggested use of social marketing and 10

11 finding a charismatic leader, such as a respectable celebrity, to improve the reach of their message. Sustainability in the supply chain The participants found that the issues impeding the uptake of sustainable palm oil were a lack of interest and awareness on behalf of the end consumer regarding sustainability, as well as the additional certification costs, which were made worse due to fragmented certification. They proposed tariff-free certification based on producer country standards as a possible solution. Some breakout session groups were more critical of RSPO, saying that it was not helping because their processes are too complicated, and called for RSPO to design one system which welcomes small holders and incentivises progress on sustainability. The groups found that small holders are being impeded from joining in sustainable production due to the costs of compliance and certification, a lack of interest in sustainability and being unaffected by market demands. There is also a lack of commercial incentives to farm sustainably. They proposed creating small holder cooperatives and associations across all producer countries which could make group certifications, as this will improve market access. In order to deal with issues of traceability and deforestation, it was proposed that governments apply smart taxation and give tax exemptions to sustainable palm oil, and that in order to prevent volumes of sustainable and other types of palm oil being mixed, producers and traders cooperate and take opportunities to have brand ownership of sustainable supply chains. 11