Malaysia Responds to EU Moral Imperialism

TV interview

New EU laws requiring companies to prove their products don’t originate from deforested land has been met with a Malaysian response.

Deputy prime minister and minister for plantations and commodity crops Fadillah Yusof, has simply said, Malaysia will look for other customers.

The new European Union law coming into effect will affect imports of palm oil, meat, wood products, soy, cocoa, and coffee. The majority of these products come from developing economies, where many rural communities are still trying to escape poverty.

This law is an instrument of moral imperialism, where the EU is imposing their beliefs upon other communities around the world. This is just another example of powerful countries and blocks extending their legal jurisdiction beyond their own national boundaries.

This new law is most likely the result from pressure from green NGOs, which believe this is an important element in the fight against climate change. The concern is that overzealous bureaucrats involved in the administration of these laws in Brussels and other satellite administration hubs within the EU, will implement this law with strict interpretation, which will hurt both the EU and developing countries.

Such laws will drive away trade from developing countries from the EU, towards China, Russia, India, and the MENA.

Moral imperialism will cost the EU diplomatically, and will encourage many developing countries to make friends elsewhere.

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