InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – Recently the government of Indonesia through Perutusan Tetap Republik Indonesia (PTRI) in Geneva, Swiss to claim European Union (EU) in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 9 December 2019. The claim is about Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) and Delegated Regulation.

Indonesia thought that the policies may be discriminatory for palm oil from Indonesia. That is why Indonesia officially sent Request for Consultation on 9 December 2019 to EU as the first initiation in the claim.

It was decided after making domestic meeting and consultation with the associations/growers, after doing scientific study, and consultation with every stakeholder in palm oil and its derivatives.

What the government has done, as the smallholders thought, is for the industries only. The domestic issues get more complex. According to Serikat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS), about 30 % smallholders have no area documents, and 30% smallholders sell their harvests (fresh fruit bunch/FFB) to the middlemen.

“It is cheap. Besides, about 18% of the smallholders’ plantations are in the forest regions and peat,” General Secretary of SPKS, Mansuetus Darto recently said.

He also admitted that the government has published the good policy, such as, President’s Instruction No, 8 / 2018 about Palm oil Moratorium, and the President’s Instruction about Sustainable Palm oil National Action Plans or Rencana Aksi Nasional Sawit Berkelanjutan.

“But there is no political will to implement them. This is proved that many smallholders still sell their FFB to the middlemen thought they have legal plantations and sustainable cultivation,” he said.

About the biodiesel program nationally, he continued, if what Indonesia claimed to WTO finds the dead end, the risk is about the FFB buying in the factories. And the companies would prioritize theirs.

“The solution is to make sure that the material supply for B30 to B50 should derive from the independent smallholders that the government’s policies do not regulate them still,” he said. (T2)