Lang
The Malaysian government is implementing coordinated strategies to ensure the country is classified as “low risk” under the European Union’s deforestation rules, according to a report by New Straits Times.
One of the main strategies is coordinating implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) across several ministries and agencies, including forest monitoring, regulatory compliance, and sustainable land management.
Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani said in a report published on July 22 that this coordination is central to Malaysia’s response.
The EUDR requires companies selling or exporting seven commodities to the European Union — cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soybeans, cattle, rubber, and timber — to ensure that these products are deforestation-free and legally sourced.
In addition to restricting imports of commodities linked to deforestation, the regulation requires the European Union to classify regions by risk level: low, standard, or high. This classification determines how strict the due-diligence rules will be for companies trading these commodities.
In May, Malaysia received a “standard-risk” classification under the EUDR assessment system.
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), the classification overlooked the concrete progress Malaysia has made in reducing deforestation, as reported by Euractiv on May 22.
In June, the government formed a special committee to coordinate the country’s response to the European regulation, with the aim of maintaining access to the EU market and strengthening compliance with sustainability requirements in key export sectors, according to NST.
The committee is chaired by Minister Johari and includes three key ministries: the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, and the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry.
Johari said his ministry is also working to ensure that Malaysian agricultural products exported to the EU comply with EUDR requirements by adopting sustainability certification systems such as:
He also said issues related to the accuracy of Malaysian forest data submitted to the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment, which is used in EUDR risk classification, had also been addressed.
Johari added that recommendations will be submitted to the government on the measures ministries and agencies should implement to ensure compliance.
He said these strategies reflect Malaysia’s proactive efforts to secure low-risk status and demonstrate the ministry’s commitment to maintaining the competitiveness of Malaysian agricultural products in the EU market.