Removing the Negative Accusations of Indonesian Palm Oil, the Government Held ISPO Dialogue at Sheraton Belitung

Antonius said that achieving this is not an easy matter for there are different perspectives on sustainability.

“Because western countries are more concerned on environmental protection, while in other side, we see the economic value of palm oil. We see palm oil as a means of reducing poverty and creating jobs, so there is still a slight difference in perspective on sustainability, more to priority of each side,” he explained.

Antonius gave an example, currently there are still obstacles in marketing Indonesian palm oil in the European market, such as the existence of regulations prohibiting the entry of Indonesian palm oil for biofuel materials.

“The Indonesian government is currently suing the World Trade Organization (WTO) and now the process is still ongoing. At the WTO we said the EU policy to discriminate against Indonesian palm oil as a biofuel material is incorrect because they still allow biofuels derived from soybean oil and from sunflowers for example, and only palm oil is not allowed. This is not fair, even though they came from the same classification, vegetable oil,” he explained.

Antonius added, the dialogue participants would also be invited to see palm oil plantations in Belitung directly so that they have an overview and understanding of environmentally friendly palm oil processing from Indonesia.

“Field visits to show them that the management of oil palm plantations in Indonesia is in accordance with the principles of sustainability, both environmentally and socially, that’s what we want to show them. It is hoped that later they will report to their country regarding the situation on the field,” he said . (Nazriel).