InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – General Director of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Trade, Oke Nurwan emphasized that the government of Indonesia would loudly protest to European Union (EU) for the publication of temporary reward feedback import duty proposal from Indonesia in July 2019. It would be 8 – 18 percent.
“By the publication of temporary reward import duty, Indonesia would officially respond to the objection. It would focus to the calculation method of the import duty which is assumed not to notice the facts during the investigation. The government of EU might use the best information available (BIA), which means, the data that the petitioners (EU industries) and this clearly be a loss for Indonesia,” he said in the official statement to InfoSAWIT, Friday (26/7/2019) in Jakarta.
Knowing it, Director of Trade Security, Pradnyawati said that Indonesia should be decisive to EU which has postponed the significant trade of biodiesel exports from Indonesia.
"If the proposal is the preliminary determination, one thing for sure, the biodiesel exports to EU would have issue. This should not happen. In addition their proposal indicated that BIA implementation is unreasonable. We would firmly respond this,” she said.
Biodiesel exports to EU significantly increased from US$ 116,7 million in 2017 to be US$ 532,5 million in 2018. But in 2019 the exports from Indonesia to EU decreased from those in 2018.
Pradnyawati also mentioned that the proposal has been the further threat to postpone the exports from Indonesia. In December 2018, European Commission (EC) initiated to investigate the anti-subsidy to biodiesel from Indonesia. Indonesia itself was claimed to give the subsidy facility which forbade the regulation in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to the biodiesel producers/exporters and influenced the biodiesel export price to EU.
Some previous months, the biodiesel exports from Indonesia to EU were free from the anti-dumping import duty. On 16 February 2018, Court of Justice EU (CJEU) published the decision that confirmed the sentence of Judge of General Court and EU decided to run anti-dumping import duty which was effective on 16 March 2018.
Indonesia was free to the anti-dumping import duty on biodiesel import by the panel decision of Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) WTO on 26 October 2017. The panel of DSB won the claim from Indonesia on UE on the DS 480 – EU Indonesia Biodiesel.
“The biodiesel companies in Indonesia that use palm oil as the material are independent and the government does not give subsidy nationally like the EU accused. By the initiation to investigate the anti-subsidy in December 2018 and now proposes to make anti-dumping, the conclusion is that EU really wants to postpone the biodiesel exports from Indonesia,” she said.
The government of Indonesia has protested the UE. Since the issue to the investigation comes up, Indonesia has approached the government by pre-investigation consultation with EU Case Team.
She thought that the government of Indonesia and the biodiesel producers are committed to fight for EU by having every data since the investigation started to the investigators. If EU finally runs the import duty, Indonesia would appeal to EU General Court and DSB WTO forum, just like when having anti-dumping import duty case in 2017.
"Indonesia has cooperated about this and accommodated to every question from UE during the investigation. The government would defend and approach by diplomacy,” she said. (T2)
