House of Representatives: The European Union's Palm Oil Policy Should Not Harm Indonesia

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - The House of Representatives (DPR RI) declares that the policy of oil palm by the European Union should not harm the Republic of Indonesia because many members of the community in the country depend on the commodity's life.

"The EU Parliament should not adopt a resolution that could make a big loss for Indonesia," said Chairman of the Parliamentary Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation (BKSAP) Nurhayati Ali Assegaf in a release on Tuesday (4/24/2018).

Nurhayati asserted that as the third largest democracy in the world and the biggest contributor to the ASEAN economy, the EU should prioritize cooperation with Indonesia, rather than other undemocratic countries.

He said about 50 million Indonesians depend on oil palms.

At this time, he continued, the EU parliament is currently in the process of further discussion on a resolution which suggests that oil palm will be ruled out from the list of agricultural commodities being used as a renewable energy source.

"The main reason for the resolution is the growing opinion in Europe that oil palm is one of the main causes of deforestation in tropical forest countries like Indonesia," the Democrats politician explained.

That, he said, is a discriminatory action against Indonesia due to a negative campaign against Indonesian palm oil.

Separately, the Coordinating Minister for the Ministry of Marine Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan paid a working visit to the European Union to discuss the discrimination of palm oil derivatives products in the region. He stressed that Indonesia wants to build partnership dialogue in facing oil palm problem.

"We do not come to beg, to be dictated, but to dialogue with partners We are in an equal position, we want to build a partnership, we are not a poor country, we are rich country with a lot of experience," he said.

In a series of working visits, Luhut held a meeting with European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrm in Brussels, Belgium on Monday (23/4/2018), to discuss a number of issues, including oil palm, environmental issues, and trade.

The negotiations with the EU related to the issue of palm oil derivative products were carried out in its role as Chairman of the RI Negotiation Team for the negotiations on restrictions on the use of palm oil derivative products in the European Union.