EU Acknowledges Indonesian Palm Exports to Europe Rises

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - European Union (EU) Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Guerend said the value of Indonesia's palm oil exports to Europe increased 38 percent during January-August 2017 compared to the same period the previous year.

"The value increased by more than 2 billion Euros during the period, which indicates that the European market is very open to Indonesian palm oil," said Ambassador Guerend in Jakarta, Wednesday (13/12/2017).

This fact is considered quite surprising amid the issue of a campaign of black palm oil that developed after the European parliament published "Report on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforests" presented at Starssbourg, France on April 4, 2017.

The report stated that palm oil is a commodity that is closely related to deforestation, corruption, exploitation of child labor, and the abolition of the rights of indigenous peoples. This accusation is expressly rejected by Indonesia as a very irrelevant insult.

However, Ambassador Guerend explained that up to now palm oil is still the main trade commodity of Indonesia and Europe where Europe ranks second importer of Indonesian palm oil after India. Tariffs of palm oil exports to Europe also called very low ranged from 0-4 percent.

He asserted that the EU does not impose trade barriers or regulations to ban palm oil.

"The 'palm oil-free' campaign is an initiative of European companies for marketing purposes as Europeans are increasingly concerned about the sustainability of their products," Ambassador Guerend told media crews.

Last November, Indonesian President Joko Widodo on a visit to Kuching, Malaysia called on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to fight a black campaign against palm oil products.

Indonesia and Malaysia produce 85 percent of the total CPO and fill 91.2 percent of the world's export markets, making both countries a major player in the palm oil industry.

For Indonesia, palm is a major industry concerning the livelihood of farmers covering an area of ​​11 million hectares with a percentage of 41 percent is a farmer plant with upstream to downstream business workforce reached 16 million people.

According to President Jokowi, the issue of oil palm is very close to poverty alleviation efforts, narrowing the development gap, as well as inclusive economic development.

Therefore, the two countries agreed to form the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) for the promotion and strengthening of cooperation, including for preparing strategic measures against the negative campaign of palm oil use in Europe.