Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - Members of APEC have yet to reach an agreement on Indonesia`s bid to propose the inclusion of crude palm oil on the Environmental Goods (EG) list following different views among members.

Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said here on Sunday that the different views were on how members prioritize the implementation of what have been agreed.

However, Indonesia has received support from US, Peru, Chile and Papua New Guinea on the proposal to include palm oil to the EG list.

"We still have to study some Southeast Asian countries that produce the same commodities (CPO) but having different views from us," Minister Gita Wirjawan said here during the APEC MRT meeting, Sunday.

Previously on Friday, Minister Gita Wirjawan held a bilateral meeting with several APEC Trade Ministers, such as the United States of America, Canada and Chile on the sidelines of the APEC MRT meeting.

On the occasion, Minister Gita asked the support of US, Canada and Chile to support Indonesia`s proposal to include palm and rubber products into the EGs list.

Furthermore, the Trade Minister also asserted that the US soon deliberates the verification result of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the issue of Palm Oil NODA.

Based on the verification of the US EPA to Indonesia, there was no strong evidence showing Indonesia`s palm oil production as an act that harms the environment.

Previously, Director of APEC Cooperation and Other International Organization Deny Kurnia said the effort to promote CPO and rubber was aimed to balance the list of EG, in order not to be dominated by manufactured products but also agriculture goods so that developing countries relying on the agricultural sector can contribute to the environment preservation.

"However, some economies which formulated the 54 EG do not want the liberalization on the environmental goods to be disrupted by our proposal of the new goods," Kurnia said.


(A059/A014)

Reporter: A.E.S Wicaksono
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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