Setback for proposed palm oil tax hike in France

France’s senate has rejected the entire draft 2013 budget for the national social security system, which included a proposal to massively increase palm oil taxation.

In an amendment adopted by the senate’s social affairs committee, socialist senator Yves Daudigny had proposed to treble the tax to €300 per tonne of palm oil from 2014.

The measure aimed to encourage the food industry to use healthier oils. Some believed it would also have helped reduce palm oil's environmental impact in producing countries such as Malaysia. The Malaysian Palm Oil Council strongly contested the suggestion that the country did not respect the environment.