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Interview

Exclusive: Mahathir weighs taking EU to court over palm oil ban

Malaysian leader and Indonesia's Widodo 'disappointed' over negative sentiment

"This is about world trade, and we have to look into trading practices first," Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said in an interview. "If it breaches any international law, of course, we will go to the international court." (FIle photo from June 2018 by Takaki Kashiwabara)

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said his country, the world's second-largest producer of palm oil, is considering bringing a case to the International Court of Justice over the rising anti-palm oil initiatives in the European Union.

Speaking to the Nikkei Asian Review, Mahathir said both Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, were disappointed with negative publicity campaigns against the commodity in Europe, which has been boosted by recent legislation that would phase out and eventually ban palm oil-based biofuels. Both countries had previously signaled their intention to file a formal complaint to the World Trade Organization on the move by the European Parliament.

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