Jakarta – Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has stated that in improving the economies of Indonesia and Europe, there should be no protectionism and discriminatory policies, especially with the pretext of environmental protection.

“Indonesia will not tolerate the protectionism and discriminatory policies which are applied under the pretext of protecting the environment,” Minister Retno said when addressing the opening ceremony of Indonesia-Europe Business Forum on Tuesday, 01 March 2022.

“We need to develop exchanges based on trust, fairness and mutually beneficial,” the minister said, insinuating the discrimination that is kept being slapped against the Indonesian palm oil.

Last week, during a meeting with European Union in France, she also stated the same issue. “When having a meeting with my EU counterparts, I’ve always raised Indonesian concern on the unfair treatment against palm oil products,” she said.

According to her, the latest such policy against the palm oil is the regulation on deforestation-free products which have been applied by the EU.

“The regulation is potential to affect Indonesia’s exports of agricultural products, including the palm oil,” she said.

On 17 November 2021, the EU decided to ban the imports of food and wood products from regions alleged to have caused deforestations. The EU said that the regulation is aimed to ensure the sustainability of environment and people in the future.

The new policy requires producers of soybean, beef, palm oil, cacao, coffee, and wood products to get “deforestation-free” certificates before exporting to Europe.

To get such certificates, the producers have to fulfill two criteria, which are concerned with the prevailing laws in countries of origins and should be produced without causing deforestations.

Source: medcom.id | Featured image via tempo.co