BelitongToday, Tanjungpandan – The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a dialogue on Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) in American and European Market at the Sheraton Hotel, Tanjung Binga Village, Belitung Regency, Wednesday (11/23).
The dialogue was attended by ambassadors and representatives of countries in America and Europe which have been the market for Indonesian palm oil.
This dialogue aimed to ward off issues and accusations from the international community regarding Indonesian palm oil that was not environmentally friendly and sustainable.
“This afternoon’s dialogue is to increase understanding, especially from the Indonesian palm oil market countries regarding the ISPO concept,” said Director of Trade, Industry, Commodities, and Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Antonius Rudi Triantoro to BelitongToday, on Wednesday (23/11).
He said that ISPO was deliberately built to improve the management of oil palm plantations so that they are in accordance with sustainability issues in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as social protection, environmental protection, and so on.
“Since several overseas markets for Indonesian palm oil in certain countries consider the issue of environmental protection as a prerequisite for entering their market, there is a kind of trade barrier,” he explained.
He further conveyed that ISPO was also built to show that it was not entirely true that palm oil in Indonesia damaged the environment and violated social norms such as employing child workers and other negative accusations.
“Through this dialogue we want to invite them to accept the ISPO standards so that our palm oil will not face any more obstacles, because we now have ISPO, something like that,” he explained.