The Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP
Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs
Defra
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

13 May 2011

Dear Caroline,
I am writing to you about the EU directive on the ‘Provision of food information to consumers', specifically amendment number 387. I am concerned about the frequently unlabelled ingredient, palm oil, which has several negative environmental and social impacts. I therefore urge you to support amendment 387 calling for the mandatory labelling of palm oil allowing consumers to make informed decisions about the products they purchase. This would be in line with the Government's Food 2030 strategy which refers to the need to support the development of sustainable supply chains.
As I am sure you know, palm oil is the world's most common vegetable oil, found in close to half of all top-selling grocery brands in supermarkets across Europe, including in the UK. It is primarily produced in Indonesia, Malaysia and a rapid expansion of production is occurring in Africa. Production is often at the expense of tropical forests and carbon-rich peat lands. It has disastrous consequences for critically endangered species, as well as local communities and the global effort to reduce carbon emissions to prevent dangerous climate change. In addition, palm oil has a high saturated fat content making it an important health issue as well.
Mandatory labelling of palm oil would encourage consumer choice and would support the sustainable production of palm oil by driving demand for certified sustainable palm oil from European food retailers and manufacturers. Consumer pressure has driven many leading European supermarkets and food manufacturers to join the Roundtable on the Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) making commitments to purchase palm oil only from certified sustainable sources by 2015. However, mandatory labelling is needed to push remaining companies in the right direction.
This directive will face a further reading in the European Parliament shortly and I urge you to support amendment 387 when the Council looks at the text again.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion

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