Switzerland urged to declare palm oil in non-food products
Malaysia is the second leading producer of palm oil worldwide, after Indonesia.
Keystone / Hotli Simanjuntak
On Monday, indigenous delegates from Malaysia and the Bruno Manser Fund presented a petition for mandatory declaration of palm oil in non-food products. Some 12,000 signatures have been deposited with the Federal Chancellery.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/ds
Español
es
Suiza debe declarar el aceite de palma en productos no alimentarios
“What the palm oil industry is doing to our rainforests is worse than deforestation,” said indigenous activist Mutang Urud, quoted in a Bruno Manser Fund press release.
About 85% of the world’s palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia, according to the tropical forest protection organization. However, the cultivation of palm oil takes place at the expense of tropical forests.
Declaring palm oil in foodstuffs has been mandatory in Switzerland since 2016, but not for non-food products. However, this vegetable oil is used in many products such as candles, soaps, cosmetics, cleaning products and paints.
More
Debate
Hosted by:
Anand Chandrasekhar
How much more are you willing to pay for forest-friendly chocolate?
What ways do you think are there to make sure cocoa is sustainably sourced?
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
The citizenship obstacle course facing spouses of Swiss Abroad
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Top Swiss court rejects Russian request for administrative tax assistance
This content was published on
There is currently no reason to transmit banking information to the Russian Federation, the Swiss Federal Court has ruled.
After strike by radiologists, doctors demonstrate in Bern
This content was published on
Following a strike by radiology technicians in Fribourg, doctors, vets, dentists and chiropractors expressed their frustration on Friday outside parliament in the Swiss capital.
Eurovision and bleak world situation are top themes at Basel carnival
This content was published on
The Eurovision Song Contest and the gloomy global situation are among the main themes of Basel Fasnacht (carnival) this year.
Prices of Swiss investment properties continue to rise despite stagnating rents
This content was published on
Although rents in Switzerland stagnated or fell in the final quarter of last year, prices for investment properties continued to rise. Both apartment buildings and office properties have become more expensive.
Probe into wrong Swiss pension figures clears federal office
This content was published on
Employees of the Swiss Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) did not breach their duty of care when calculating pension prospects, an investigation has concluded.
This content was published on
Hotels in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino welcomed significantly more guests last December than in the same month of the previous year.
Swiss collect over 9,000 tonnes of plastic for recycling in 2024
This content was published on
In 2024, consumers recycled 9,090 tonnes of plastic. More than 600 municipalities in 17 cantons participate in the "Bring Plastic Back" system.
This content was published on
The team from Lausanne’s Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) analysed soil at plantations in Colombia, which is the world’s fourth largest palm oil producing country. They found that planting on pasture land is a much more sustainable way of harvesting the oil that…
Switzerland examines sustainable trade options with Indonesia
This content was published on
Switzerland lays foundations for roadmap to promote a sustainable means of implementing a controversial free trade agreement.
‘In Indonesia palm oil is bigger than watchmaking is for Switzerland’
This content was published on
The Indonesian ambassador to Switzerland defends the sustainability of his country’s palm oil exports amid pressure from a referendum.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.