"The Indonesian government is having negotiations with Walt Disney regarding the allegation that the Indonesian product is not environment-friendly," Hidayat said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Industry Minister MS Hidayat said he was studying the boycott of Indonesian paper product by the United States company Walt Disney.

"The Indonesian government is having negotiations with Walt Disney regarding the allegation that the Indonesian product is not environment-friendly," Hidayat said here on Monday.

The minister said that the government also asked the Indonesian paper producers to follow regulations so that they would be prevented from a serious mistake.

"We hope the paper producers association would follow the standing procedures and the government will help settle the problem which could disturb industry at home," Hidayat said.

The boycott of Indonesia paper products by Walt Disney on allegation that it is not eco-green product will disadvantage local producers and degrade the export performance.

Meanwhile, Hendra Gunawan, managing director of Corporate Affairs and Communications of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), said even though the impact of the boycott by Disney was not so big, yet it would tarnish the reputation of Indonesian paper products in the eyes of consumers in the United States.

Hendra said that Walt Disney did not consume a lot of paper from Indonesia. "So far, it did not import a large amount of Indonesian paper," he added.

However, the allegation that the Indonesian paper product is not environment-friendly has caused the Indonesian paper price to become under pressure and reduced export performance.

Previously media reports said that the world`s biggest publisher, Walt Disney Company, had decided to discontinue the use of paper from Indonesia for allegedly having materials from illegally managed tropical forests.

Vice Minister of Trade Bayu Krisnamurthi denied the claims by explaining the government have always tried to ensure that exported pulp and paper products from Indonesia are qualified as environmentally friendly products.

"Even we have already issued the regulation to forbid illegal timber export recently, so we are the only country to lay down the rule," he said.

According to Bayu, the Walt Disney`s statement is unfounded as they are not defining the reason of the boycott explicitly.

The vice minister said that Indonesian pulp and paper export around the world reached US$5,8 billion during last year, which consisted of US$4,2 billions of paper products and US$1,6 billions of pulps.

Although it is estimated that the number of Indonesia`s paper exports to Walt Disney is small, yet publications about the company regarding the issue have substantial impact that need to be clarified.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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