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Ministry decries EU trade ‘colonialism’ amid biodiesel investigation
In the latest trade dispute between Indonesia and the European Union, the Trade Ministry has derided as “colonialist” an EU investigation into allegations that Indonesian biodiesel is finding its way into the EU market, evading import duties.
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Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry staff pose with a display of biodiesel fuel samples on June 13, 2019, during an event in Jakarta to launch a 30 percent biodiesel blend (B30) for vehicles. (esdm.go.id)
T
he Trade Ministry has derided as “colonialist” an EU investigation into allegations that Indonesian biodiesel is finding its way into the EU market, evading import duties.
Disputes between the two parties have developed into a World Trade Organization (WTO) tit for tat involving several of Indonesia’s main commodities, such as biodiesel, steel and nickel.
“It’s colonialism. [The EU] keeps on making regulations based on their very subjective arguments that are of benefit to them and harmful to other countries,” Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga told reporters on Friday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting in Semarang, Central Java.
Following a request from the European Biodiesel Board (EBB), the European Commission opened an anticircumvention probe on Thursday to investigate whether Indonesian biodiesel is evading EU countervailing duties via third countries.
The EU imposed 6.5 percent countervailing duties, or antisubsidy duties, on biodiesel imports from Indonesia in December 2019.
The EBB says biodiesel shipments from China to the UK surged in 2022 and claims that growing volumes of Indonesian biodiesel “appear to be exported” to China before getting re-exported to the UK and eventually ending up in EU member countries.
“A series of fraudulent and unfair practices have severely disrupted the entire EU biodiesel market,” reads EBB president Dickon Posnett’s press statement released on Thursday.
