Delegates from the Bruno Manser Fund and Malaysia have presented a petition with 12,000 signatures to the Swiss Federal Chancellery. They are urging the country to make the declaration of palm oil in non-food products mandatory.
The declaration of palm oil in food ingredients has been mandatory in Switzerland since 2016 but not in non-food items, like candles, soaps, cosmetics, cleaning products and paints.
According to the tropical forest protection organisation, 85% of global palm oil originates from Indonesia and Malaysia. Most palm oil is however cultivated at the expense of tropical rain forests, which is why activists believe this is such an important intervention.
Photo: (c) Flickr @CIFOR
