VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian government is preparing various strategies to deal with the implementation of the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR), the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs stated.

According to the ministry's Deputy for Food and Agribusiness Coordination, Musdhalifah Machmud, the strategies are also being formulated with the aim of dismissing accusations that Indonesia's palm oil industry neglects sustainability aspects.

"We are currently devising strategies to respond to the accusations of our palm oil products not being sustainable," she remarked virtually during the 2023 Indonesian Palm Oil Research Week (PERISAI) event in Surabaya, East Java, on Wednesday.

Machmud explained that the first strategy concerns the government's effort to revise Presidential Regulation No. 44 of 2022 regarding the system of Indonesian sustainable palm oil plantation certification.

Machmud elaborated on the regulation, saying that it mandates business actors to obtain Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certificates. She remarked that the government plans to expand the regulation, so it can accommodate provisions related to sustainability aspects.

"We will soon expand the presidential regulation to accommodate sustainability provisions," she remarked.

Shedding light on the next strategy, Machmud explained that the government is developing a clearing house that will bring together relevant stakeholders to discuss matters related to the goal of realizing a sustainable palm oil industry.

She then pointed out that the government had earlier formed a joint task force to handle various issues faced by Indonesia and Malaysia in connection with the implementation of the EUDR.

The task force was established as a platform that can help Indonesia, Malaysia, and the European Union reach a common understanding regarding the regulation, she remarked.

Furthermore, she highlighted that Indonesia had held the first meeting of the joint task force in August this year, resulting in the objection to the exclusion of smallholders in trade activities between Indonesia and the European Union.

"The second result is related to the sustainability scheme. We have been implementing the scheme since 2011, and we want our sustainability efforts to be acknowledged by the European Union," the official affirmed.

The second meeting of the joint task force is scheduled on December 12 this year.

"We, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, and the Secretariat of the CPOPC (Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries) will hold various meetings to harbor suggestions and find solutions to the issues," she concluded. (Antaranews)