He made the statement during a joint press conference with Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Commodities Johari Abdul Ghani at the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) in Jakarta on Friday.
Hartarto stated that Indonesia and Malaysia will continue to fight for recognition of their respective sustainability standards—Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)—to ensure they are recognized as equal to the European standards and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
Regarding the issue of traceability following the EUDR standard, he noted that Indonesia and Malaysia have provided adequate mechanisms, including through dashboards and digital platforms for companies.
However, the EU's demand to share specific location data, or location sharing, is quite burdensome for Indonesia, he added.
"If they (the EU) want access, the data is available through the platform that we have prepared and created for corporations, so traceability is not a problem, but not for sharing location," he explained.
On the same occasion, Malaysian Minister Ghani highlighted the importance of ensuring the welfare of small-scale oil palm farmers.
Most large companies in Malaysia and Indonesia are ready to comply with the EUDR, but compliance among small farmers remains a challenge, he added.
He noted that there are around 2.5 million small farmers in Indonesia, while the figure reaches around 400,000–450,000 in Malaysia. Currently, the Malaysian government is striving to ensure that the interests of small farmers are not neglected.
Hence, both countries need to continue to hold discussions with the EU so that the EUDR does not harm them.
The Indonesian and Malaysian governments are optimistic that through ongoing dialogue, the EU will better understand the realities on the ground and adopt a more inclusive and fair approach towards palm oil-producing countries.
"We need to make sure that they realize that each country has its own laws. As long as it benefits the environment and it benefits the sustainability agenda, we will comply," Ghani explained.
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Translator: Bayu Saputra, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Anton Santoso
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