PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – The European Union’s Free Deforestation Commodity policy continues to be a topic of debate. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s two largest palm oil producers, have requested that the policy’s implementation align more closely with on-the-ground conditions.
Five key issues are being discussed, while social campaigners argue that the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) could benefit independent smallholders.
On December 6, 2022, the European Commission announced that the EUDR would come into effect in early 2025. However, this policy will not apply to micro, small, and medium-sized businesses in the EU, which will see its implementation delayed until June 2025—six months later than for other countries.
Also Read: CPOPC and Solidaridad Collaborate to Promote Sustainability in Smallholders Palm Oil Plantations
The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) has taken action in response to the policy. Officials from Indonesia and Malaysia have worked together to meet with European Commission representatives in Brussels to discuss the EUDR.
The second meeting of the Ad Hoc Joint Task Force (JTF) on the EUDR, held in Putrajaya, Malaysia, is expected to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the regulation. This meeting is led by representatives from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the European Commission, along with stakeholders from the palm oil, coffee, rubber, cocoa, and wood industries.
The taskforce focused on five workstreams. The first was about smallholders’ inclusivity in their supply chain. The focus was about what they face and how the solution would be to mitigate the potential impacts from EUDR implementation.
The second was about relevant certification scheme (obliged implementation) that discuss the gaps between national scale – certification and certification in EUDR.
The third was about traceability. Indonesia and Malaysia did represent their traceability tools, such as, National Dashboard, Sawit Intelligent Management (SIMS), and electronic – Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (e-MSPO).
The fourth was about to represent the progress about observatorium deforestation and forest degradation in the continent while Indonesia and Malaysia represented deforestation data and policy. “EU would be open to the input and discussion about their map contents,” General Secretary of CPOPC, Rizal Affandi Lukman said in an event in Jakarta that Palmoilmagazine.com attended.
The fifth, Indonesia and Malaysia discussed the bans about geolocation data in the two countries. EU delivered answer that data needed would be anonymous and having nothing to do with personal information from each individual.
Rizal though CPOPC would improve everything to support the sustainable facilities in the workstream that happened in the workstream 1 by facilitating the smallholders to prepare themselves in EUDR implementation through CPOPC International Smallholders Workshop 2024 in June. (P2)
