Month: March 2020

FERN, a UK-Dutch NGO, has published a new report, ‘Detoxifying Palm Oil’. The report in its own words “aims to document and describe existing initiatives and policies in relation to the palm oil trade between Indonesia and the EU …… Read more

FPP’s Suspicious Attack against Golden Agri-Resources The Forest People’s Program (FPP) has launched a complaint against Golden Agri Resources (GAR) via the RSPO. The complaints within the brief filed to the RSPO’s complain system allege deforestation and bribery; the publicly… Read more

Norway’s Government appears to be throwing its support behind an effort to sink the European Free Trade Area’s trade agreement with Indonesia – and palm oil is the reason. Last week, the Norwegian Government-funded activist group, Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN),… Read more

As noted last week, Malaysia’s political landscape has undergone an upheaval, with the announcement of a new cabinet.The Ministry of Primary Industries has been renamed the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities.The new minister, Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, has… Read more

This week, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will visit Indonesia from 10th to 13th March, following the invitation of President Joko Widodo.Ahead of the visit, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok has spoken publicly about palm oil, claiming that… Read more

EU Update: WTO Members Take EU to Task, Again; A RED Relic The EU Takes a Pounding at the WTOWTO members including some of the world’s largest agricultural exporters have again taken the EU to task for continuing to ignore the concerns of… Read more

RI Visit Shows EU ContradictionsAs reported last week, Indonesian ministers and ministerial staff travelled to Geneva last week to open consultations with the European Union at the WTO over the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).The leaders of the delegation… Read more