Norway’s plans to ban biofuels containing palm oil from 2020 are set to provide a major obstacle to long-running trade talks between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Malaysia, a Kuala Lumpur government minister said on Friday. A Norwegian parliament recommendation to ban biodiesel “with high deforestation risk” was included in a budget for EFTA member Norway approved in Oslo earlier this month.“We view this as unfair and unjust, going against free and fair trade, and is certainly not something we will take lightly,” Malaysia’s primary industries minister Teresa Kok said in a statement, adding that it would be a major obstacle towards a successful conclusion of partnership talks. Last week, Kok also complained that a move by the French parliament to exclude palm oil as an approved biodiesel feedstock was an unwelcome decision that went against free trade and would impact the livelihood of Malaysian farmers.

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