TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi admitted she was infuriated by European Parliament`s discrimination against Indonesia`s palm oil.

According to Retno, the discriminative acts that have been practiced by the European Parliament include the resolution on renewable biodiesel energy of 2021.

The resolution issued on April 4, 2017, states that palm oil fields in Indonesia are causing deforestations and forest wildfires. The resolution is based on the study conducted by the European Commission in 2013, in which the report states that Indonesia’s palm oil production contributed to 2.5 percent (6 million hectares) of the world’s deforestation.

Read: Jokowi Calls on EU to Stop Discriminating Palm Oil

“I was slightly offended by it. I initially questioned about the data’s [validity], so it will fair,” said Retno on Thursday, February 1.

The European Union approved a proposal entitled "Report on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Promotion of the use of Energy from Renewable Sources" in a poll held at the European Union office in France, Wednesday, January 17.

One of the elements stated in the proposal is to erase and no longer consider biodiesel and fuels that are produced by living beings and plants such as palm oil as a renewable source.

Unsurprisingly, this has limited the use and sale of palm oil products in Europe. despite it once was the largest importer of Indonesian palm oil products.

Andita Rahma