The Palm Oil Negotiation Team Advances Meeting with the European Union 

BRUSSELS--Negotiation on restrictions on palm oil products in the EU continues on the second day of the negotiating team`s visit to Brussels, Belgium (24/4/2018).

President Director of the Indonesian Oil Palm Plantations Management Agency (BPDPKS) Dono Boestami also joined the team led by Coordinating Minister for Maritimes Affairs Luhut B. Panjaitan. They were accompanied by a group of Special Staff of Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs Purbaya Sadewa, Indonesian Ambassador in Brussels and European Union Yuri O. Thamrin, as well as Indonesian in Berlin Arif Havaz Oegroseno.

On the 2nd day of the visit the negotiation team attended hearing session with EU Parliamentarians and other EU stakeholders such as the EU Commissioner for Environmental, Marine and Fisheries Affairs; Belgian Minister of International Trade Affairs, and Trade Committee of the European Parliament. Currently, Indonesia and the EU are negotiating a free trade agreement, or the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU CEPA. Both ministers expected the issue of oil palm will not become a barrier to reach the agreement.

Luhut reiterated Indonesia`s commitment to accelerate the IEU-CEPA process. This formal visit was based on the report of the European Parliament adopted in January 2018 on the policy of renewable energy in the EU. The report recommends to phase out the use of palm oil as biofuel in the EU region by 2021. Minister Luhut has been appointed by President Joko Widodo as special envoy of the palm. ***