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Retaliation last option to oppose EU’s palm oil restriction: Minister
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Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan. (tempo.co/File)
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oordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan has said Indonesia prefers to find peaceful ways to resolve a dispute over the planned palm oil restriction by the European Union (EU).
“We will not use retaliation as long as we can still attempt negotiation. But, if it is needed, it [retaliation] will be used as a last resort,” Luhut said in Jakarta on Tuesday, as reported by kompas.com.
He said the Indonesian government was now intensifying its diplomacy to persuade the EU not to go ahead with its plan to restrict crude palm oil (CPO) imports.
On Jan. 17, the European Parliament revised its Renewable Energy Directive (RED) II, which, among other things, excludes CPO from the sources of the union’s biofuels and bioliquids, starting in 2021.
“If the policy is approved by the European Commission and the European Renewable Energy Council, it will cause a significant decline in CPO imports by EU countries because one third of the CPO imported from Indonesia is used as biodiesel,” Luhut added.
The minister, however, added that there was still room for Indonesia to keep the open door for the union to accept Indonesia's major commodity.
He said the Indonesian government was now talking with China to ensure that the country would increase its CPO imports from Indonesia to help improve Indonesian’s bargaining position in negotiations with the EU.
Currently the European Union, the European Parliament and the European Renewable Energy Council is deliberating to make a decision on the issue. (bbn)
