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Deforestation law is ‘non-discriminative’ for palm producing countries: EU envoy
European Union Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Piket insisted that Europe “wishes to maintain the palm oil trade” and was keen to help Indonesia and Malaysia acclimate to the new regulation.
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Forbidden fruit: A worker displays oil palm fruits harvested in a plantation in Mesuji Raya village in the South Sumatra regency of Ogan Komering Ilir, on April 29.
(Antara/Budi Candra Setya)
T
he European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) does not discriminate against any countries, including Indonesia, and has offered “technical and financial support” to help upgrade the country’s smallholder farmers, the EU Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Piket said in response to the recent speech made by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in Malaysia.
Further discussions with Indonesia and Malaysia will be welcomed, Piket added, noting that late June will see a senior EU official paying visits to the two countries to advance talks.
On Thursday, Jokowi, who met with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Putrajaya, renewed Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur’s joint commitment to fight against palm oil “discrimination,” as part of his latest efforts to contest the EUDR. The EUDR, currently awaiting its final approval from EU member states, stipulates a ban on imports considered to be driving deforestation.
Jakarta sees the policy as a possible direct blow to its trade interests, especially its palm oil sectors where many smallholder farmers could be excluded from the big EU market due to onerous paperwork.
There has also been some suspicion among analysts and observers alike that the EUDR could also serve toward Europe’s supposed ambition to reduce its consumption of foreign cooking oils to drive up sales for its domestic products, like German-made rapeseed oil.
In a statement to The Jakarta Post, Piket however insisted that Europe “wishes to maintain the palm oil trade,” and was keen to help Indonesia and Malaysia acclimate to the new regulation.
“The EU is a steady importer of palm oil. It is an important commodity for our agro-food and consumer products. Allegations that we wish to replace palm oil with vegetable oils produced in Europe are based on nothing,” he asserted.
