According to USDA GAIN Report BE2021-0005, the Government of Belgium will ban the production of biofuels and biogas from palm and soy oils effective January 1st 2022.

The justification for the action is that palm and soybean oils are responsible for deforestation and change in land use according to the Ministry for the Environment.  The Government informed the European Union of the intended ban. This is required in terms of the 2018 EU Renewable Energy Directive covering 2021 to 2030. This Directive mandates that sustainability criteria should be observed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

It is noted that U.S. soybeans are cultivated on arable agricultural land in the Midwest and the need for deforestation such as is occurring in Brazil is not a restraint to sustainability of U.S soybeans. 

Palm oil produced in Asia and specifically Malaysia is associated with both illegal and permitted deforestation that will impose a profound environmental impact for the 2021-2022 harvest season. Malaysia will produce 20.0 million metric tons of palm oil this market year, down from the previous year due to a shortage of labor attributed to COVID infection.  In market year 2021-2022, Malaysia will export 17.5 million metric tons of palm oil or 87.5 percent of production.