JABAR EKSPRES – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto met with European Union Ambassador to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam Vincent Piket on Wednesday (5/24), to discuss the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) policy.
The discussion is related to Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto’s plan together with Deputy Prime Minister/Minister for Plantation and Commodities Malaysia Dato’ Sri Haji Fadillah Bin Haji Yusof to attend a series of Joint Mission activities to the European Union (EU) in Brussels, Belgium, on May 30-31, 2023.
An official statement received by Indonesia Window here on Wednesday said that in the Joint Mission, Airlangga wanted to voice the concerns of both countries to a number of Commission officials and legislators of the European Parliament against the EUDR policy which is considered discriminatory and will have a negative impact on market access for a number of commodities, especially palm oil to the European Union.
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In the Joint Mission, Indonesia and Malaysia will also discuss steps that can be taken so that the EUDR provisions do not burden and have a negative impact, especially on smallholders of palm oil and other commodities that are affected by the EUDR provisions.
“We want to emphasize that the EUDR burdens smallholders, as they have to comply with administrative procedures as required under the regulation,” Airlangga said.
He said that this regulation may exclude the important role of smallholders in the global supply chain and fails to recognize their significance and rights.
On this occasion, he also discussed the state of play of the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) negotiations as discussed by President Joko Widodo and European Commission President Urssula von der Leyen during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima on May 21, 2023.
