Written question asked by Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru) on Thursday, 10 December 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 December 2020. It was answered by Graham Stuart (Conservative) on Friday, 18 December 2020 on behalf of the Department for International Trade.

Palm Oil: Imports

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of banning the import of palm oil into the UK.

Answer: The Government does not propose to ban the import of palm oil. 70% of the UK’s palm oil imports were from sustainable sources in 2019. An import ban on unsustainable palm oil risks substitution with other oils which typically require significantly more land to produce and may lead to greater deforestation. We continue to work with producer countries to tackle the underlying issues of deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Last month, the Government tabled a new ‘due diligence’ requirement under the Environment Bill to tackle illegal deforestation.

Secondary information