A golden opportunity has presented itself for Malaysian exporters as China announced the implementation of the Chinese Group Standard for Red Palm Oil on March 1, 2021, which enables buyers from the republic to import the commodity from Malaysia by quoting specifications in the standard.

“We hope Malaysian exporters can grasp this golden opportunity to sell the premium and nutritious red palm oil to China, a multi-segment market with the most diversified consumers in the world,” Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) director-general Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir said today.

Previously, red palm oil was not allowed to enter into China due to the colour specification in the existing Chinese Standard for Palm Oil which was set at a maximum 3.0 red. Most of the red palm oil produced in Malaysia is detected at 7.0 red or above.

“The newly announced Chinese Group Standard allows the import of red palm oil without the barrier effective from March 1, 2021,” he said in a statement here.

Besides red palm oil, China also announced the official implementation of the Chinese Group Standard for Palm Kernel Cake.

Ahmad Parveez explained that the Chinese Group Standard for Red Palm Oil was the result of multiple stakeholder engagements and extensive bilateral cooperation between the MPOB and respective Chinese authorities, which enables the entry of Malaysian red palm oil into China.

In 2014 and 2015, the MPOB conducted an intervention programme with the Lanzhou University to help fight Vitamin A deficiency among 2,000 school children in the Gansu province through the use of red palm oil which contains natural carotenes, a pro-Vitamin A and powerful antioxidant.

“The programme effectively helped to reduce the incidence of Vitamin A deficiency among children from 21.6% to 6.1% after six months of intervention, and the MPOB takes pride in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative which was jointly carried out with the Chinese Nutrition Society,” said Ahmad Parveez.

In addition, the MPOB, through its regional office in Shanghai, China, also known as the Palm Oil Research and Technical Service Institute of MPOB (PORTSIM China), together with local industry players and research institutes have jointly developed food and animal feed formulated with red palm oil.

These products, including the red palm-based extruded snacks, red palm hotpot soup stocks, red palm dog food and red palm feed for layer chickens, will help strengthen the Malaysian palm oil market in China through reaching out to Chinese producers as well as consumers.