Jakarta. An Indonesian diplomat said Friday that it was not only Jakarta that found the European Union or EU’s anti-deforestation law to be unfair as the policy had also sparked criticisms from other countries, including Brazil. 

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) has set a thorny obstacle to Indonesia’s ties with the European bloc. The regulation mandates that selected commodities such as palm oil entering Europe must be deforestation-free starting end-2024. Traders and operators must submit geographic coordinates of the land plots where the palm oil is grown to prove their production does not contribute to deforestation. These restrictions cause the world’s largest palm oil producer Indonesia to panic as it would mean that Jakarta might lose one of its export destinations. However, according to Umar Hadi, a director general at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Indonesia is not the only country that feels this way. 

“What we want is not just for the EU to hold off on the law’s implementation. But there is the fairness aspect that we [Indonesia] are going for. And it is not just Indonesia who finds the EUDR to be unfair, but other countries like Brazil and even the US even think the same,” Umar told the press in Jakarta. 

In a letter addressed to the European Commission, Brazil not long ago asked the bloc to postpone having the EUDR in place. Brasilia even told the EU to revise the rules to prevent it from affecting its exports. The US also wrote the EU a similar letter demanding a delay back in June, saying that American producers were struggling to comply with the rules.

According to Umar, Indonesia had already made its stance clear to the EU. Umar, however, refused to say how the EU responded to Indonesia’s requests. “The EU has already given their response, but I don’t want to say if it is a positive or negative response,” the diplomat said.

Aside from palm oil, the EUDR applies to other products, including soy, beef, coffee, rubber, cocoa, timber, and its derivatives. Data showed Indonesia-EU trade totaled $30.88 billion throughout last year. Palm oil was among the main products that Indonesia exported to Europe during that period. 

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