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Indonesia to discuss biofuel duties with EU at end of this month amid trade tit-for-tat
The two parties have sued each other at the World Trade Organization as trade relations between the two jurisdictions simmer.
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A worker collects palm fruit at a plantation in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. (Reuters/Lai Seng Sin)
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ndonesia is set to meet the European Union in a consultation meeting at the end of this month to discuss the latter’s biofuel import duties, according to a high-ranking Indonesian official.
The two parties have sued each other at the World Trade Organization (WTO) as trade relations between the two jurisdictions simmer.
The eurozone filed a lawsuit with the WTO on Nov. 22 to challenge Indonesia’s nickel ore export ban. Indonesia followed suit by disputing the EU’s import duties on palm oil and biofuel on Dec. 8.
“We will have a consultation forum that will kick off on Jan. 30,” Trade Deputy Minister Jerry Sambuaga said during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday. The deputy minister is scheduled to meet with the EU delegation in Geneva, Switzerland, from Jan. 28 to 31.
Currently, the government was strengthening coordination across ministries to explore and prepare its case prior to the meeting, he said.
Jerry emphasized that Indonesia’s lawsuit against the EU was not a form of retaliation and that it was only a response to the bloc’s “discriminatory regulation”.
"We reject any forms of discrimination,” Jerry said. “This is against the free trade principles of openness, impartiality and consistency.”
