Fadillah said this follows a positive response from the EU during a joint task force (JTF) meeting held in Jakarta last week.

“We hope that by the final meeting, Malaysia will be classified under the standard benchmark, and not as ‘high risk’,” he said at the opening ceremony for the Palm Oil Manufacturing Technology Exhibition and Conference 2023 in Miri today.

Fadillah, who is plantation and commodities minister, also said that his ministry was serious in understanding and complying with the EUDR requirements.

“We have been engaging with various stakeholders to discuss and streamline the commitments in facilitating the country’s efforts in combating deforestation, as well as being excluded from any entirely unwarranted classification as a ‘high-risk country’.

“The JTF will actively work towards gaining EU recognition for the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification scheme and other relevant certifications,” he added.

The JTF comprises government representatives and stakeholders from both Malaysia and Indonesia, including commodities associations, smallholders, workers associations and civil society organisations.

It aims to examine the situation for relevant commodities in both countries within the scope of the EUDR for the EU market.

Previously, top officials from Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s biggest producers of palm oil, were in Brussels to voice concern over the EUDR, which they believe could be detrimental to small farming businesses and exclude them from the global supply chain.

Both Southeast Asian countries have accused the EU of discriminatory policies targeting palm oil. Malaysia previously said it could stop exports to the EU over the deforestation law.

The EU’s landmark deforestation law bans imports of coffee, beef, soy and other commodities into the bloc unless companies can provide “verifiable” information that the products were not grown on land that was deforested after 2020.