COLOMBO v MUMBAI (Reuters) – Sri Lanka on Monday banned imports of palm oil and new palm plantations and told producers to uproot existing plantations gradually, in a surprising move that has baffled the edible oil industry.
Imports of palm oil and the number of plantations have increased in recent years in Sri Lanka, a leading producer of coconut oil.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in a statement that the aim was “to make the country free from palm plantations and the consumption of palm oil”.
Environmentalists say palm oil production has led to widespread deforestation and ecosystem damage.
Sri Lanka imports about 200,000 tonnes of palm oil each year, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, traders estimate.
“Companies and entities that have made such crops (palm oil) will be required to gradually remove them, with 10% uprooting at some point, and replace them with rubber cultivation or organic crops each year,” the statement said. from said the president’s office.
Sri Lanka’s palm oil industry has invested 26 billion rupees in Sri Lanka ($ 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 estimates from the country’s Palm Oil Industry Association.
($ 1 = 199,0000 rupees from Sri Lanka)
Reporting by Waruna Karunatilake in COLOMBO and Rajendra Jadhav in MUMBAI. Edited by Mark Potter