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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.