T

he government has vowed to closely monitor ongoing developments of potential market access restrictions to Indonesia’s palm-oil based biodiesel into the European Union (EU), following a plan to curb surging imports in recent years.

The Trade Ministry’s director for trade security, Ernawati, said on Monday the government would watch further moves in the EU and take necessary measures in response to any new EU policy against locally produced biodiesel.

“We need to see what kind of market-restriction measures will be taken by the EU, which could either include an anti-dumping duty or other additional tariffs. We will act accordingly based on the EU’s move,” she told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

Ernawati added that the government had recently met local biofuel producers to share information about potential tighter measures on imported biofuel in the 27-member states bloc, as it stepped up its import curbs following a sharp increase in imports, especially from Argentina, Indonesia and Malaysia.

“We have warned local biodiesel producers that while a surge in exports is good, the efforts to achieving that must be carried out according to fair trade rules,” she said.

According to Ernawati, Indonesia’s total biofuel exports EU have been growing significantly in recent years. In 2010, the country’s exports of biofuel rose by 187.93 percent to 544,679 tons from 2009. This trend has continued with biofuel exports increasing by 155.46 percent to 971,877 tons during the January-August period this year, compared to the same period last year.

Fredrik Erixon, director and chief executive of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), warned last week during the seventh Indonesian Palm Oil Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, that market access of Indonesian palm-oil based biofuel would likely be restricted starting from 2012 and 2013 in line with escalating biofuel protectionism in the EU market.