French ambassador Affirms His Country's Non-discrimination of Oil Palm Products

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - French Ambassador to the Environment Xavier Sticker confirmed that his country does not discriminate against palm oil products from Indonesia, following the European Parliament's approval on the abolition of biofuel made from palm oil in 2021.

"France is committed to the principle of non-discrimination that also applies to the use of specific commodities such as palm oil as a biofuel material," Sticker said in Jakarta on Thursday (25/1/2018).

As Chairman of the Amsterdam Declaration on Sustainable Palm Oil, so far France is not planning to set a special tax to limit the entry of palm oil considering this multidimensional issue is very complex.

The Amsterdam Declaration is a political commitment among European countries that has no permanent legal force and aims to support the implementation of private commitments on deforestation and oil palm conservation.

According to Sticker, the governments of France and Indonesia, as well as other stakeholders, have a common responsibility to collaborate and find appropriate solutions to palm issues.

"The aspect of sustainability in the palm oil industry is a major concern right now, and this effort should be done collaboratively," Sticker said.

Therefore, Sticker specifically visited Indonesia to review the potential cooperation that can be done between the two countries to help implement sustainable palm oil industry management.

During his three-day visit in Jakarta and Pekanbaru, Riau, he brought along delegates consisting of the French government, the French Development Agency (AFD), the International Cooperation Center for Agronomy (CIRAD), and the French business alliance for sustainable palm oil industry.

"We want to build a dialogue especially with the palm oil industry to know their achievements, challenges and opportunities to support sustainable palm oil management," said the former Chief of Staff of the French Minister for European Affairs.

The outcomes of the dialogue will be followed up with the exchange of knowledge and research, as well as the development of sustainability mechanisms based on agricultural landscapes.

"We need to create the best policy collaboration to help meet the expectations of smallholders, producers and consumers, without ignoring the principle of nature conservation to help countries achieve carbon reduction targets," Sticker said.

Indonesia is the main importer of palm oil for France. The import value of palm oil from Indonesia goes to France also increased by 38 percent during 2016 to 2017.

In the context of the European Union, half of Indonesia's palm oil is imported without being subject to import duties while the other half is subjected to a very low import duty of 0-10 percent.

"Compared to other Indonesian export destination countries, the EU imposes the lowest import duties," Sticker said. (ant)