COLOMBO / MUMBAI (Reuters) – Sri Lanka on Monday banned imports of palm oil and new palm plantations and told producers to gradually uproot existing plantations in a surprise move that confused the oil industry. edible.
Imports of palm oil and the number of plantations have increased in recent years in Sri Lanka, one of the main producers of coconut oil.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in a statement that the aim was “to make the country free from planting and consuming palm oil”.
Environmentalists say the production of palm oil has led to widespread deforestation and damage to ecosystems.
Sri Lanka imports about 200,000 tonnes of palm oil every year, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, traders estimate.
“The companies and entities that have made these crops (of palm oil) will be obliged to remove them in a phased manner, with 10% pullout each time and replacing it with the cultivation of rubber or ecological crops every year” , says the statement from the president’s office said.
The Sri Lankan palm oil industry has invested 26 billion Sri Lankan rupees (US $ 131 million) and the country has about 11,000 hectares of palm plantations – just over 1% of the total area planted with tea, rubber and coconut, according to the country’s Palm estimates. Petroleum Industry Association.
($ 1 = 199,0000 Sri Lankan rupees)
Reporting by Waruna Karunatilake in COLOMBO and Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI. Editing by Mark Potter