MPOB-UKM ENDOWMENT CHAIR

 

Exploring Typology Structures of Global Value Chain and Production Networks of Palm Oil Industry

Grant Category, Year:  Research Grant, 2019 

Abstract

The growth of palm oil sector has been seen to be very significant over the last few years. Malaysia and Indonesia have been the main exporters of palm oil in the global market. There are many issues related with social and environment impacts are ambiguous. Recently, EU lawmakers has poised for a ban on the import of palm oil-based biofuels by 2020, in a bid to protect threatened rainforests. This has been highly debated and hot issues the potential exporter of palm oil in the future. If translated into law, such a move could trigger a trade conflict, seven palm oil producing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Colombia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, and Ecuador have warned. The imposition of both tariff and other non-tariff trade barriers, or for an outright EU ban on imports of biodiesel derived from palm oil, could provide advantages to the use of other raw materials, entailing direct discrimination against palm oil. However, if direct discrimination would be a violation of World Trade Organization rules. Obviously, the climate change is the main highlighted issue for banning the use of biofuels from any vegetable oils by EU. The main research questions of this study are: first, what are the patterns of global value chain in palm oil sector? And second, what are the implications of the European Union's restrictions on the world palm oil industry?

Project Leader

Fathin Faizah Said (Faculty of Economics and Management, fatin@ukm.edu.my)