JAKARTA – The Indonesian government is lobbying the European Union (EU) to adopt the certification of  Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

The economic coordinating ministry’s Deputy in charge of foods and agriculture coordination, Musdalifah Mahmud said that the ISPO and RSPO certificates should be enough to prove that Indonesian palm oil is sustainable and free from deforestation.

“We’re trying to persuade them to accept the ISPO and RSPO. Having the ISPO and RSPO certificates should be enough for palm oil producers to be allowed to export to EU market,” Musdalifah said during a public discussion on liberating Indonesian people from poverty in Jakarta on Tuesday, 08 August 2023.

She said that there have been a total of 24 million tons of crude palm oil (CPO) that have been certified with ISPO, while 09 million tons certified with RSPO. “Indonesia’s palm oil export to EU is only 3.5 million tons,” she said.

According to her, the government will ensure EU that Indonesia will export the certified palm oil to EU market. But the EU should accept the ISPO and RSPO certificates in the EUDR.

“This is what we ask from EU. We inform them that under the certification of ISPO and RSPO, the palm oil can be traced up to the oil palm plantations,” said Musdalifah.

The EU has adopted the EUDR since 06 December 2022. The regulation is aimed to ensure that consumers in EU market will not buy products that contribute to deforestations and forest  degradation.

The regulation applies for a number of agricultural and forestry products, including palm oil, beef, cocoa, coffee, soybean, rubber, woods, leather, and derivative products such as chocolate and furniture.

It also categorizes oil palm as plants of high risk in terms of causing deforestations, despite the fact that deforestations in Indonesia have been significantly declining as has been verified by international agencies. (*)

Source: KONTAN.CO.ID