Proposed U.S. label law may hit Asian palm oil exports
Proposed U.S. label law may hit Asian palm oil exports
KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones): The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's planned move to classify trans fatty acids and saturated fats under one food product category for labeling would severely hit U.S. demand for tropical oils, Asian vegetable oil trade and industry officials say.
They say such a move would be unjustified, misleading and the result of a campaign by the U.S. soybean lobby. It would have a direct impact on Southeast Asian producers of palm oil and coconut oil.
The producers fear the proposal, if implemented, will reduce demand for coconut and palm oil, because listed as trans fatty acids, the labeling may lead American consumers to think the consumption of coconut and palm oil will increase their risk of heart disease.
The U.S. consumes about 40 percent of the Philippines' annual coconut oil exports of 1.7 million metric tons. Although it isn't a big market for other tropical oils, such as palm oil and palm kernel oil, producers say adverse publicity in the U.S. could easily spill over to key markets such as India and China.
"This labeling isn't considered a fair way of classifying saturated fats. I was told that the FDA has received about 2,000 representations against it," said Derom Bangun, chairman of the ASEAN Vegetable Oils Club and Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association.
The ASEAN Vegetable Oils Club comprises member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association, along with government representatives, met FDA officials in April seeking a separate classification for saturated fats on food labels.
"They (U.S. soybean lobbyists) want to keep other oils away from their market and they have a lot of money," to lobby with, said Jesus Lim Arranza, chairman of the United Coconut Association of Philippines, a coconut-producer body at the forefront of the campaign against the FDA proposal.
"This labeling isn't considered a fair way of classifying saturated fats. I was told that the FDA has received about 2,000 representations against it," said Derom Bangun, chairman of the ASEAN Vegetable Oils Club and Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association.
The ASEAN Vegetable Oils Club comprises member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association, along with government representatives, met FDA officials in April seeking a separate classification for saturated fats on food labels.
Arranza said FDA move won't succeed. "You can't mix bananas with mangoes. It's absurd, and the sheer absurdity of the proposal will negate its objective," he said. "I'm confident they will listen to us. There are already a number of petitions against the plan."
In the U.S., saturated fats are used in the manufacture of food products, such as margarine and shortening.
Industry representatives also feel the move, if approved, would revive the "Anti-Tropical Oils Campaign" of the 1970s. That campaign was largely viewed by local producers as a move by a lobby led by the American soybean growers to bar the entry of tropical oils into the U.S. market.