We have received supports from Peru and Chile."Jakarta, July 15 (Antara) - Indonesia is encouraging the inclusion of environmentally friendly and renewable products in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Environmental Goods (EG) List, a Trade Ministry official said.
"After studying the result of a forum meeting in Surabaya, we discussed products which are not only environmentally friendly but also renewable to be able to include them in the EG list," the ministry`s director general of international trade cooperation, Iman Pambagyo, said here on Monday.
Besides being environmentally friendly and renewable, the goods must also contribute to rural development and poverty eradication efforts, he said.
"We have received supports from Peru and Chile. They will study the proposal positively and convey their views in August this year," he said.
In 2013, Indonesia will propose to APEC to study the policy to include environmentally friendly and renewable goods in the list, he said.
"This year we will discuss the issue of CPO and rubber. It will be highly regrettable if Indonesia`s success in APEC is only measured by its success to increase the number of goods in the list," he said.
The government`s plan to include CPO and rubber in the list at the APEC meeting held in Surabaya was hampered by developed nations which argued the products had not met qualifications.
The Indonesian palm oil products fail to enter the APEC market because they do not meet the environmental standard set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA has stated that palm oil cannot be included in the US renewable fuel program (RFS) based on its assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from biofuel production, distribution and tailpipe emissions.
Palm oil-based biodiesel cut green house emissions by only 17 percent compared to gasoline and the diesel fuels it is set to replace, slightly lower than the 20 percent threshold required to qualify.
(Reporting by Vicki Febrianto/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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