PALMOILMAGAZINE, BRUSSEL – At the third meeting of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) Joint Task Force, Indonesia and Malaysia expressed concerns about the imminent implementation of the regulation, which may still be delayed until next year.
During the discussions, both countries urged the EU to release clear, official guidelines on EUDR’s implementation. They expressed worries that if operational details are not provided in time, the EU could become an uncertain trading partner, potentially impacting major commodities like palm oil.
Meanwhile, the EU raised concerns over legal restrictions in Indonesia and Malaysia regarding geo-location data—an essential requirement under EUDR to ensure supply chain traceability and sustainability. Indonesia and Malaysia responded firmly, stating that privacy and security laws strictly regulate geo-location data collection within their borders.
Also Read: 5 Results of Cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia in Facing EUDR
The EU, represented by the European Commission’s Director-General for Environment, Florika Fink-Hooijer, acknowledged the efforts Indonesia and Malaysia have made to enhance traceability and transparency within their commodity supply chains.
In the official statement as Palmoilmagazine.com quoted, Tuesday (15/10/2024), the initiative of Indonesia National Dashboard, and Malaysia traceability tools, such as, Sawit Intelligent Management System (SIMS), GeoPalm Portal, and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Trace would be the strong evidences for the two countries. EU did welcome the implementation the national scale – certification schemes, such as, MSPO and Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) that would help the operators and traders to qualify the sustainability standards.
The two countries came to a conclusion that it would be significant to reinforce the national scale traceability schemes. EU emphasized its supports to help the two to reinforce the available systems. This should facilitate the operates to obey EUDR without scarifying the interests locally.
In the sustainability context, EU emphasized its commitment to get the next meeting, consultations about forest canopy map. The collaboration would be about to increase the scientific data quality available by referring the definition that would be agreed multilaterally. EU also said that EU forest observatory would be about as the supporting tools and would not legally bond.
Indonesia, represented by Expert Staff in Connectivity, Service, and Natural Resources, Coordinator Ministry in Economy, Musdhalifah Machmud; Malaysia represented by General Secretary of Ministry of Plantation and Commodity, Dato’ Yusran Shah Bin Mohd Yusof emphasized it would be significant to use forest map in national scale – authority because it would officially and deliver data sustainably. The two figures believed the national scale forest data would play the significant roles to deliver accurate and scientific information about forest canoply.
The discussion continued and every party came to a conclusion to get technical level in dealing with specific issues, such as, EUDR implementation. Ad Hoc Joint Task Force which would be the consultative mechanism among Indonesia, Malaysia, and EU would be the platform to get the best solution about EUDR implementation fairly and in balance.
In the long term, the meeting should reinforce the technical coordination and dialogue among the three parties while focusing on realizing sustainable development goals in 2030, and the international scale commitment about climate and natural conservation. (P2)