ASEAN and the EU will regroup on Wednesday and Thursday for the second meeting of the Joint Working Group on vegetable oils. The meeting comes on the heels of a decision by Belgium to ban the use of palm-based biofuels in 2022, well ahead of the EU’s 2030 phase-out date under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED).

Although this is within EU rules, it typifies much of what ASEAN’s palm-producing countries are fighting against: insidious regulatory barriers with flimsy justifications.

Why “insidious”? Two weeks ago, the EU ambassador to Indonesia stated in a public forum that there was no ban on palm oil in the EU region.

Contrary to Ambassador Vincent Piket’s claims, the regulatory barriers are real, and they have a real-world impact on agriculture in ASEAN and Indonesia. From the Indonesian producer perspective, we are seeking above all a reduction in regulatory and other barriers, with the following being key.

First is the countervailing duties that have been imposed on Indonesian biofuels. These were introduced immediately after the EU lost a lengthy WTO case for its antidumping duties on the same product.  

Second is the discriminatory ban by the EU on palm-based biofuels. This has been explored often in the pages of this newsletter and is currently the subject of a WTO case from Indonesia.

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