The European Commission has announced plans to postpone the policy's implementation by one year.
According to Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, the postponement is the result of pressure from Indonesia, bipartisanship from the United States in the Congress and the Senate, the German Chancellor, and Secretary General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"For Indonesia, what is important is the implementation of the policy, not for it just being postponed," he said here on Thursday.
Since last year, Indonesia has sought a discussion on the implementation of the EUDR. Based on the request, a joint task force was formed involving Indonesia, the EU, and Malaysia.
Hartarto said that Indonesia has a number of concerns regarding the regulation, including the request of the EU for Indonesia to provide detailed geo-location.
Indonesia has a national dashboard to check commodities, which can also be accessed by the EU, he informed.
"If our country is accessed coordinately by foreigners, this can become a security issue. That is what we object to. We already have a pattern, but they still object to the pattern we created," Hartarto explained.
In addition, Indonesia has expressed its concern to the EU, which is seeming to act like a rating agency.
This role, according to him, is being carried out by other institutions that are engaged in the rating field.
Another concern is related to the issue of standardization.
Hartarto argued that Indonesia has a sustainability standard called the Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO), Malaysia has the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO), and Europe has the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
However, the EUDR does not recognize standards other than RSPO.
"Those are three issues that Indonesia and Malaysia continue to fight for in the joint task force," he said.
According to the initial plan, the EUDR was scheduled to come into effect on December 30, 2024.
The regulation will prohibit the sale of forest derivative products if companies cannot prove that their goods did not contribute to deforestation.
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Translator: Imamatul Silfia, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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