2022, Volume 25, Paper 7
ISSN: 2209-6612

The Value Chain for Palm Oil Imported into China

Luyang Niu – Postgraduate Student, Master of Global Food and Agricultural Business, University of Adelaide

Abstract

Palm oil is a very controversial commodity, often linked to issues such as deforestation, destruction of animal habitats, labour exploitation, wildfires, and environmental pollution in producing regions. Several sustainability schemes for palm oil production have been developed, and while the proportion of sustainable palm oil consumption in developed countries is gradually increasing, more and more non-sustainable palm oil flows to developing countries, such as China, Pakistan, and India. China is the second largest importer of palm oil, but certified sustainable palm oil accounts for less than 10 per cent of China’s total consumption. This is due to a combination of ineffective Chinese food standards, the concerns of food industry practitioners, high industry concentration, double standards of multinational corporations, and insufficient efforts by the Chinese government to promote sustainable consumption and development. A number of suggestions are made which could gradually increase the proportion of sustainable palm oil in China’s total palm oil consumption.

Keywords: palm oil, value chain, China, RSPO, sustainability

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