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President Gotabaya Rajapaksa with the aim of “freeing Sri Lanka from oil palm  plant and palm oil consumption” issued an order to ban the import of Palm oil  to the nation. Prior to declaration it was reported that Sri Lanka imports over  200 000 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia.  

Recently the High Commissioner of Malaysia Tan Yang Thai and the High  Commissioner of Indonesia Gusti Ngurah Ardiyasa met with trade minister  Bandula Gunawardana to discuss possible alternatives to the plan. It is clear  that the aim of these negotiations was to release the ban on palm oil imports  placed by the government. According to the High Commissioners this ‘abrupt  ban’ has tarnished the image of the entire palm oil industry. They also noted that  campaigns against palm oil have been presented since the 1980’s and in order  to clarify any and all doubts the high commissioners expressed willingness to  provide the government with detailed reports reassuring the quality of the  products.  

It was also noted during these discussions that the high commissioners intend  to take the matter to the highest levels of authority in the Sri Lankan  Government.