Airlangga Meets Jokowi, Talks about European Regulatory Imperialism

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto met with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the State Palace on Monday afternoon, June 5, to report the results of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) meeting in Detroit, United States last Friday. Airlangga highlighted several regulations of other countries that are detrimental to Indonesia.

"I conveyed to the President that we [the Detroit meeting] discussed 4 pillars; first is trade facilitation which is still under discussion and has not been completed yet, second is the supply chain that was completed yesterday in Detroit, third is related to the green economy, and fourth is the fair economy,” Airlangga said in the Palace area, Central Jakarta.

During the discussion on trade facilitation, Airlangga claimed that Indonesia is in the spotlight because of its nickel reserves, which is needed by other countries as raw materials for electric vehicle batteries. He hoped that through IPEF, Indonesia can supply raw materials for battery to the US.

Airlangga also informed issues about the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which was promulgated in June and will be implemented in the next 18 months.

“Within 18 months, forest commodities must be verified through due diligence statement and have geo-tagging. And those commodities are coffee, cocoa, forest products such as furniture, CPO, and [animals producing] methane such as cattle,” Airlangga outlined.

He argued that the regulation is detrimental to Indonesia because the implementation time is very short. If within 18 months Indonesia does not comply with these rules, then 90% of trade relations with Europe will be disrupted.

Airlangga claimed that he protested to the EU Vice President regarding the Deforestation Law which could interfere with sustainable development goals (SDGs) for Indonesia and Malaysia. The law, he assessed, is discriminatory and punitive and is likely excessive for Indonesia, which is a member of the United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO).

“This is a form of regulatory imperialism because the regulations govern other countries. We make laws for our own country, this regulates other countries without clarity. This was yesterday's mission that I discussed in the US and Europe,” Airlangga Hartarto said.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH

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