Government urged to strengthen global diplomacy in facing EUDR

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government is assessed as needing to strengthen global diplomatic measures to minimise the impact of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) policy on national export performance. Mohammad Faisal, Executive Director of the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia, stated that the Indonesian government must ensure that national export interests remain protected from EUDR pressures through a measured diplomatic approach. The EUDR policy, he continued in his statement in Jakarta on Thursday, constitutes a non-tariff barrier for plantation commodities entering the European Union market. In the context of the global vegetable oil market, EUDR applies only to palm oil and soybean oil. Nevertheless, he added, EUDR does not apply to rapeseed oil and sunflower oil, nor to other vegetable oils produced by the European Union. “The Indonesian government needs to strive for the implementation of EUDR to have a minimum impact on our exports,” he said. He emphasised that if not addressed properly, these non-tariff barriers will have a negative impact on national export performance, up to disrupting export revenues that support various programmes of the Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP). According to Faisal, the momentum of the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) negotiations can be optimised to bridge the interests of Indonesian exporters, including ensuring the readiness of upstream sectors such as plantations and agriculture in meeting EUDR standards.