Jakarta – Indonesian export commodity, palm oil or crude palm oil (CPO) received a negative sentiment or a black campaign in the European continent. Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman even asked for help to the United Nations (UN) to resolve this problem.
“Then there is a palm oil issue. We conveyed the issue regarding crude palm oil. We told them there was a black campaign in European countries. I said that we had our own standards and we did not want to be dictated by other countries. We are a sovereign state and we do not want to be dictated by other countries. We have our own standards,” he said at the Ministry of Agriculture, Jakarta, Monday (9/4/2018).
Amran said his team had a discussion regarding oil palm black campaign so his approach would not only related to deforestation, but would also be seen from the side of farmers in oil palm plantations.
According to Amran, an approach from the side of the farmers community needs to be done. The reason is, if left alone, the farmers would seek income from other means by forest logging and eventually will cause forest damage.
“They asked about palm oil. So I said we should use approach not only with issues of deforestation, forest and environmental damage, but also from the side of the community and the farmers’ welfare,” he continued.
“I told them that and they acknowledged it. Farmers, the community, sellers and traders who live there are approximately 30 million people. I said that if the CPO price declines due to black campaign, these 30 million people would seek for sources of income in other places. They would cause more deforestation. So in an indirect way, the people who conduct this black campaign cause environmental damage,” he said.
Furthermore, Amran explained that the involvement of Indonesian people in palm oil industry is relatively large, which is 51%. And the rest is the companies’ involvement.
“They asked about the Indonesian people’s involvement and I stated that 51% of Indonesian people and farmers are involved. The rest is the companies,” he added.
Therefore, he hoped that the UN could pay attention to the oil palm black campaign that occurs in Europe.
For information, this morning, four members of Human Rights Council from the United Nations made a visit to the Ministry of Agriculture as an appreciation for the productivity program in Indonesia.