ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – The Indonesian government has asked the European Union (EU) not to make regulations that smack of imperialism regarding the trade in palm oil commodities.
This is because the Indonesian palm oil industry is currently facing serious challenges following the European Union Deforestation Free (EUDR) policy.
The Coordinating Minister for the Indonesian Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, said that there are at least three basic things that will be challenges for the Indonesian palm oil industry in the future, namely the EUDR has the potential to exclude palm oil planters from the global supply chain, the General Data Protection Regulation which requires that all farmers with products targeted by the EUDR submit data geolocation of farms without any legal guarantee that the data will be protected, and EUDR will group countries into three categories namely low risk, medium risk and high risk.
“Of course we want Indonesia to have low risk. “Therefore, sustainability issues are the Government’s main priority,” said Airlangga when giving a speech representing President Joko Widodo at the National Palm Oil Farmers Meeting on the occasion of the 23rd Anniversary of the Indonesian Palm Oil Farmers Association (APKASINDO) in Jakarta, 7 December 2023.
Then Coordinating Minister Airlangga also said that the Indonesian government together with Malaysia had carried out a joint mission in May 2023 to express objections to the EUDR. As a follow-up, a Joint Task Force between Indonesia-Malaysia and the EU has been formed which aims to ensure that the implementation of EUDR does not harm producing countries.
“The government has created a joint mission. I went with the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia to knock on the doors of the European Union so that they would not make regulations that smack of plantation imperialism. “So, we want national capabilities to be prioritized,” stressed Coordinating Minister Airlangga.
Furthermore, regarding verification of land sustainability data and ISPO certification, Coordinating Minister Airlangga requested that these two things be completed immediately. Increasing ISPO certification is important considering that the realization of ISPO certification as of December 6 2023 was 819 certificates, of which 107 certificates were for smallholder oil palm plantations with an area of 426,000 ha.
The low realization of ISPO certification for smallholder palm oil farmers has prompted the Government to make regulatory changes where the Government will provide assistance with ISPO certification costs for smallholder palm oil growers.
This assistance includes activities for Plantation Business Registration Certificates, Environmental Management Capability Statements, Internal control system training, Mentoring, as well as Certification and/or Ownership.
Coordinating Minister Airlangga also emphasized that the APKASINDO team within one month would be able to resolve various problems related to land sustainability data verification and ISPO certification.
“All meeting materials have been completed and the results are concrete welfare for farmers. “800 thousand hectares, 300 thousand farmers,” concluded Coordinating Minister Airlangga.
Support Economic Growth
The Indonesian palm oil industry has become a mainstay commodity for national exports and the Government continues to accelerate it to help support economic growth. In 2022, Indonesia is recorded as being able to produce 46.82 million tons of palm oil. Meanwhile, the area of smallholder oil palm plantations will reach 6.21 million ha or 40.51% of the total area of oil palm plantations in Indonesia in 2022.
“Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer in the world and more than 16 million tons are produced by smallholder farmers,” he said.
To increase the productivity of smallholder oil palm plantations, the Government has implemented the Community Palm Oil Rejuvenation (PSR) program. In the 2017-2023 period, the area of people’s gardens that have been rejuvenated reached 306 thousand ha for 134 thousand farmers with total funds distributed amounting to 8.5 trillion rupiah.
“But this is not enough. “President Jokowi’s direction is to add 300 thousand more farmers,” said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.
Other efforts made by the Government include the Facilities and Infrastructure Program in the form of providing assistance with seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural machinery. In terms of increasing human resources for palm oil planters, the Government has also provided educational and training program assistance with the number of recipients during 2023 reaching more than 7,000 people with total funds of 127 billion rupiah.
“The government continues to encourage the palm oil industry. “And currently the export value of palm oil is Indonesia’s mainstay, worth $29.66 billion in 2022. This is the largest export along with nickel,” said Coordinating Minister Airlangga. (AT Network)
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