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EU envoys take firsthand look at RI palm oil industry

In its latest bid to counter negative perceptions surrounding the palm oil industry in Indonesia, Jakarta has invited ambassadors and representatives from European Union member countries on a five-day excursion to plantation sites in Jambi so they can make their own observations

Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jambi
Tue, April 17, 2018

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EU envoys take firsthand look at RI palm oil industry

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n its latest bid to counter negative perceptions surrounding the palm oil industry in Indonesia, Jakarta has invited ambassadors and representatives from European Union member countries on a five-day excursion to plantation sites in Jambi so they can make their own observations.

The move comes amidst efforts by European lawmakers to table EU legislation that seeks to phase out the use of palm oil in motor fuels, inevitably affecting Indonesia’s palm oil exports.

The Foreign Ministry’s policy analysis and development agency (BPPK), in collaboration with the Jambi regional administration, the Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDP-KS) and Jambi University, has organized an “executive oil palm course” catering to the envoys this week.

“This is not the first event we have held — last year we invited EU students over for a palm oil summer course, but this time we raised it to the ambassadorial level,” BPPK head Siswo Pramono said on Monday.

“This is to show our best practices, as well as to present the scientific research on [palm oil’s] impact on the environment.”

The excursion, which involves visits to a plantation owned by a member of the Asian Agri group of companies, aims to introduce the foreign guests to “real” sustainable palm oil production, Siswo told reporters in Jambi.

Other activities include a meeting with the governor of Jambi and state-owned producer PTPN VI, as well as the promotion of various sustainability initiatives in the province.

At least five ambassadors from the European bloc, including its ambassador to Indonesia, Vincent Guerend, as well as envoys from Poland, Austria, Ireland and Sweden and representatives from the embassies of Denmark, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Germany, took part in the event.

Indonesia is currently at a crossroads with the EU — its second largest export market after India — which has questioned the cash crop’s cultivation in the country.

Temporarily buoyed by the EU’s recent decision to lift antidumping duties on Indonesian palm oil products, which were to blame for declining biodiesel exports to the European market, palm oil producers are still faced with another challenge, as lawmakers in Brussels seek to phase out the use of palm oil in biofuels by 2021 over environmental concerns.

This move has provoked anger from Indonesia and Malaysia as the world’s biggest palm oil producers.

Once it is passed, Indonesia can no longer export to the EU.

Guerend aired these same concerns during the excursion in Jambi on Monday, but insisted that both sides were still actively communicating on the matter.

“We’ll have a big delegation from the European Parliament coming in early May to Jakarta. We’ll also have some [Indonesian ministers] coming to Europe, so of course we keep [...] the channels of communication open,” the envoy said.

On a cautious note, Siswo said Indonesia had been preparing itself for the possibility of an EU ban. “All of our representatives around the world have been instructed to seek new markets,” he said, adding that Indonesia would also start increasing the use of biofuels domestically.

Moreover, he said, Indonesia had formed the Council of Palm Oil Producer Countries (CPOPC), which he said could be joined by Latin American and African countries to cooperate in seeking new markets. He also said Indonesia would not also rule out possible legal action through the World Trade Organization.

Indonesia exported 31 million tons last year with a value of US$22.9 million, according to the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association.

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