Results

Members of the European Parliament have recently voted ‘Yes’ to the labelling of palm oil on food products, allowing shoppers to make choices about what they buy, and supporting vital changes in the palm oil industry as food companies will be encouraged to shift to sustainable sources of the ingredient.

A coalition of conservation organisations, including Elephant Family, the Sumatran Orangutan Society, the Orangutan Foundation, Save the Rhino, The Jane Goodall Institute‐UK, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, and the Ape Alliance have, with their supporters and Call4, been lobbying MEPs to ensure that a new regulation on food information to consumers includes the mandatory labelling of palm oil on food packaging.

On 6th July, with an overwhelming majority of 678 votes, MEPs voted in favour of clear labelling of specific vegetable oils, including palm oil.  

There is an enormous and rising demand for palm oil and with the rapid expansion of the industry tropical forests and carbon‐rich peatlands are being systematically destroyed to make‐way for oil palm plantations. The United Nations has stated that the expansion of oil palm cultivation is the most significant cause of permanent forest and peat land loss in South East Asia, causing considerable greenhouse gas emissions and an unimaginable loss of habitat and biodiversity. As a result Asian elephants, orangutans, tigers and rhinos are losing their forest homes and being pushed closer to extinction.

Clear labelling will provide the impetus for more companies to make time‐bound pledges to source certified sustainable palm oil, supporting the palm oil industry in a move towards more sustainable production, reducing a significant driver of deforestation and threat to tropical ecosystems and biodiversity.

As it stands palm oil is normally labelled under the generic term ‘vegetable oil’. The new agreement, which requires all vegetable oils to be labelled individually, will come into force early 2012 and the new labelling rules will begin to apply in 2015.

Joanna Cary‐Elwes from Elephant Family stated that ‘The response to the ‘Clear Labels, Not Forests’ campaign was phenomenal. The ordinary consumer has spoken up to show that they do not want to unwittingly consume forest‐destroying palm oil. The success of this YES vote creates the opportunity to urge companies to behave more responsibly and take steps towards sustainability. ‘

Helen Buckland, UK Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society said “Consumers want to know if products contain palm oil, and where that palm oil comes from. This new regulation will make palm oil visible on ingredients lists, enabling consumer choice and ultimately providing leverage for European companies to clean up their supply chains and only use certified sustainable palm oil. Currently around 8% of the global palm oil supply is certified sustainable, but on average only 51% of available CSPO has been purchased in the last 12 months. It is time for retailers and manufacturers to play their role in supporting the transformation of the industry.”

Cathy Smith from the Orangutan Foundation said “Our supporters and members often feel powerless when it comes to trying to reduce their impact on habitat loss of endangered wildlife species, such as the orangutan. Now, with clearer labels that this new regulation will bring about, people can easily identify those products that damage the world’s tropical forests ‐ our planet’s life support to wildlife and people.”

This was Call4’s first pan European campaign and ensured over 3000 emails were sent by supporters to MEPs to help secure this result.  For those who took part – you should be proud!