I

ndonesia is willing to engage with the European Union in a dialogue over palm oil, but as the world’s largest producer of the commodity, it is not afraid to launch a diplomatic offensive to counter the European Parliament’s efforts to impose a total ban on palm oil, a senior minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an international conference at the Vatican-run Pontifical Urban University, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said that, given the role of palm oil as the country’s largest agricultural commodity, the government would do whatever it took to protect the industry.

Last year the export of 31.05 million tons of palm oil, up 23 percent from 21.11 million tons the year before, brought in a record US$22.97 billion.

Luhut said that millions of Indonesians depended on the industry for their livelihood, with more than 6.9 million smallholder palm oil plantations. In 2014 alone, the sector employed no fewer than 40.12 million workers, or 33 percent of the total labor force.

“What we would like to see is dialogue, not a zero-sum policy of ‘my farmers against your farmers’. We can establish a constructive dialogue on vegetable oils to see whether it is possible to address the issue of efficiency in vegetable-oil production,” said Luhut, a retired four-star general.

Luhut implied the dispute over palm oil actually sprung from protectionism in agriculture. “We fully understand that to some countries [in the EU], the issue of palm oil is not really an issue of deforestation or the environment but is part of broader agricultural measures in favor of local production,” he said.

Luhut added that Indonesia was also ready to take aggressive measures to counter negative campaigning against palm oil.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Luhut thanked Pope Francis for his prayers for the victims of the bombings in Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday. He said the government would continue to guarantee religious freedom.

Mahendra Siregar, executive director of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOC), meanwhile, warned that palm oil producers alone would not be affected by the trade boycott plan, but also EU consumers and companies, which would suffer severe economic losses.

Mahendra said Indonesia was not just the world’s largest producer of palm oil, but also its largest consumer. More than two-thirds of the world’s supply of palm oil is consumed by developing countries, while EU imports continue to decline.

He also rejected as unsubstantiated most of the EU allegations against Indonesia’s plantation practices.

Mahendra added that Indonesia should be more forward, and even aggressive, in promoting its major export to EU citizens.

The EU as a bloc is the second-largest importer of palm oil from Indonesia after India, but as a nation China actually holds second place.

“We should think out of the box [...] in the end the biggest loser [from a palm oil ban] would be the EU itself,” said Mahendra, who once served as both deputy minister of finance and trade.

Last year, the European Parliament voted in favor of proposals for the elimination of palm oil use in biofuels by 2020 at the latest. It also called on the use of a single sustainability standard. Indonesia insists it already has a sustainable palm oil standard.

The seminar on sustainable palm oil was organized following a recent meeting between Luhut and Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace director Cardinal Peter Turkson. The cardinal reiterated that the Vatican never involved itself in politics and that the Holy See only facilitated the conference because it wanted to give the opportunity for all sides to be heard. “There is another story of palm oil to be told.”