Context: Edible oil trade associations from five palm oil importing countries in South Asia – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal announced the setting up of Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA).

What is Asian Palm Oil Alliance(APOA)?

• Aim: To safeguard the economic and business interests of the palm oil consuming countries and will work towards increasing the consumption of palm oil in member countries.

• To work towards ensuring that palm oil is recognised as a high-quality, economical, and healthy vegetable oil and to change the negative image of palm oil.

• Members: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal

• Meeting: APOA held its first general body meeting on the sidelines of the Globoil Summit being held at Agra, India and the next meeting is expected to be held in Indonesia early next year 2023.

What is the significance of this alliance?

• Asia accounts for around 40% of the global palm oil consumption while Europe accounts for 12% of the palm oil trade. Indonesia and Malaysia are the biggest palm oil exporters in the world.

• India is the largest importer of palm oil in Asia, accounting for 15% of global imports, followed by China (9%), Pakistan (4%) and Bangladesh (2%).

• India’s annual imports of edible oil are around 13-14 million tonnes (MT). Around 8 MT of palm oil is imported from Indonesia and Malaysia while other oils, such as soya and sunflower, come from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia.