From Teresa Kok

I am highly concerned after reading reports in the media by plantation industries and commodities minister Zuraida Kamaruddin that she plans to consolidate the three palm oil agencies under one roof.

These involve the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC).

This will be taking a major step back in time to almost three decades ago when the current structure and functions of the palm oil agencies were first redefined after extensive consultations with the industry.

The minister herself has got to come to terms with the unique functions and characteristics of each of these agencies before embarking on such an exercise that may prove futile.

The underlying cause may be the apparent functional overlap among these agencies that continues to exist and which surely needs corrective measures.

This is something that I had also raised during recent parliamentary debates.

I would like to briefly explain to Zuraida that MPOB, set up by an Act of Parliament, is the main statutory body which oversees licensing, enforcement and, most importantly, the research and development of all things palm oil.

These functions cannot be easily compromised.

Historically, there existed two separate entities, namely the Palm Oil Refining and Licensing Authority (Porla) and the Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (Porim).

At the insistence of the then minister in 2001, these were brought under one roof through the MPOB Act and has since been functional.

Thereafter, at the height of the 1980s anti-palm oil campaign, there was a strong push and need to create a standalone palm oil marketing arm and hence emerged the current Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).

Its core objective is to assist in the promotion and marketing of Malaysian palm oil. Established as a private limited non-profit company, it often needs to function unrestricted in the real commercial world to ensure uninterrupted flow of Malaysian palm oil to more than 153 countries.

In recent times, due to the need for sustainable certification standards through the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil, the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC) was established.

For Zuraida, the biggest challenge is the continued overlap of functions that is glaringly obvious among these agencies. For starters, I had questioned in Parliament the need to have duplicate palm oil offices overseas in the same country/region by both MPOB and MPOC.

Indeed, when a critical brainstorming was conducted previously with industry captains, MPOB’s overlap of its palm oil marketing efforts was deemed unnecessary and that this should be taken over immediately by MPOC.

However, internal pressure from the agencies and their boards had made this difficult even for the minister.

Zuraida will do well to immediately look into this again and remove all such functional duplications between agencies.

Let me remind her that the ministry’s top officials are represented in the boards of all these agencies, and thus are fully aware of what goes on in these organisations.

Another challenge today is that industry partners already feel that MPOB has overgrown its capabilities and its core functions are being neglected to some extent.

Industry quarters are saying that it is thus beginning to make sense to split its R&D functions from its licensing and enforcement role.

Rather, they are seen to be silently going back to the old model of Porla and Porim. This merits much further debate and consideration.

If Zuraida still plans to merge these entities, her biggest challenge is to find a single person who has the knowledge and capability of all things palm oil and more to helm such a single and monstrous entity.

Right now, such an individual does not come to mind. Even the future leadership succession plans at these agencies are a big headache since appointing persons of the highest calibre to efficiently operate each of these agencies is hindered by a lack of talent, knowledge and capability.

Throwing it into the hands of the ministry’s secretary-general will not work optimally.

The challenges are thus rather bitter and difficult. These will require significant clean-up of the agencies, both at the management and board levels, coupled with consolidation of their activities.

We need to remember that these agencies operate through a cess (tax) imposed on the industry via each tonne of palm oil produced.

Down the road, the challenges the industry will face far outweigh the desire for a consolidated single agency, as proposed.

I hope the minister will not execute her plan in haste. She had better rely on already existing documented roadmaps and agree to hold re-consultations with the industry captains.

Since this industry is vital to our nation’s economy and gross domestic product, I would boldly like to offer possible cross-consultation among various knowledgeable MPs to create a more sensible and long-lasting support system for the well-being of the industry as a whole.

These three entities have different roles and functions and it is important to maintain them as such, of course, with improved and enhanced operations and management.

To cater for Zuraida’s vision at least partially, it could be proposed that MPIC’s secretary-general and the palm oil division’s role in the ministry be further empowered accordingly.

Teresa Kok is a former plantation industries and commodities minister and Seputeh MP.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.