Fadillah who is also plantation and commodities minister said Malaysia will inform the EU about the reforestation programme and Malaysia’s Forestry Policy which includes sustainable forest management, conservation and biodiversity protection.

“In Malaysia we already have a policy not to open new forests other than what has been designated,” he told the media after holding a meeting with Indonesia’s trade minister Zulkifli Hasan in Jakarta.

Seven commodities, palm oil, cattle, wood, soy, cocoa, coffee and rubber, that are cultivated or reared on deforested land or led to forest degradation are prohibited from entering the EU by virtue of its deforestation law that came into effect in December last year.

Fadillah said the replanting of forest species in the “community farming” programme in Malaysia is actively under way.

He said he and Zulkifli also discussed the role of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries to bring the issue of discriminatory trade barriers against palm oil and rubber producing countries to the Asean level.

Last month, Fadillah said that Malaysia may have to engage experts from overseas to counter the move by the EU.

Alternatively, he said Malaysia could stop exporting palm oil to the EU due to the strict regulation and instead focus on exporting to other countries.

The EU is the third largest palm oil market for Malaysia and Indonesia.