Palm Industry Must Ensure Freedom from Deforestation

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - Palm oil industry business actors must ensure that their owned companies are completely free from deforestation activities in order to improve the quality of one of Indonesia's main export commodities.

"The palm oil industry is still destructive and our report shows traders have no plans to improve it," said Greenpeace Indonesia Forest Campaigner Bagus Kusuma, in a press release received in Jakarta on Tuesday (28/11/2017).

According to him, Greenpeace International has issued a recent report revealing that suppliers to some brands in the world still cannot guarantee their palm is free from deforestation.

He also believes that none of these companies can prove there is no deforestation in their palm oil supply chain, and declared the palm oil industry the main cause of deforestation.

Good to say this situation is very important for Indonesia's forests, because the country is considered to have lost millions of hectares of forest and deforestation is a major threat to the rare animals that live there.

Previously, member of House of Representatives Commission IV Taufiq Abdullah stated, the Government of the Republic of Indonesia should be able to really anticipate discrimination related policies related to national oil palm commodities conducted by the European Union.

"Actually, the problem of oil palm is not new to us, and it should be overcome and even anticipated by the government," said Taufiq Abdullah as quoted by Antara.

According to him, as an oil palm producer, Indonesia should be able to regulate the market and not otherwise treated its commodities with discriminatory policies.

The PKB politician also stated that the production of palm oil should also be increased by its added value in order not to be thrown into the international market in the form of raw materials.

"There should be efforts from the state to create processed industries, so that oil palm growers can throw to market at maximum price In Indonesia there is palm processing industry, the price will be more expensive than we export Imagine we are producing but when thrown into the international market must go through non-producer countries," he said.

Therefore, he said, Indonesia should have a strong international network and can make efforts to diplomacy and interact with producers to avoid those who determine.

Earlier, President Joko Widodo at the 40th Annual Summit of ASEAN-EU Partnership Cooperation called for a halt to discrimination against Indonesian palm oil to the European Union.

"The EU Parliament Resolution and a number of European countries on oil palm and deforestation as well as black campaigns are not only harming economic interests, but also damaging the image of palm oil producing countries," the President said in a press release of the Deputy for Protocol, Press and Media Secretariat of the President, Bey Machmudin received, Tuesday (14/11).

The President explained that oil palm plantations are so influential with poverty alleviation, narrowing the development gap, and supporting inclusive economic development.