European Union Stops Investigation of Fatty Acid Antisubsidies from Indonesia

Illustration of food content (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - European Union authorities have stopped their anti-subsidy investigation of fatty acid products from Indonesia, this decision was determined by the European Commission through Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/617 dated March 17, 2023.

Responding to the decision to terminate the investigation, the Indonesian Minister of Trade (Ministry of Trade) Zulkifli Hasan said that this result could not be separated from the efforts of the Ministry of Trade to actively participate and be cooperative at every stage of the investigation.

"The Indonesian government through the Ministry of Trade actively participates in efforts to secure access to the export market for Indonesian products against trade remedies from trading partner countries. The positive results of this anti-subsidy investigation cannot be separated from the active participation of the Ministry of Trade in every stage of the investigation," said Zulkifli through an official statement issued by the Ministry of Trade. received in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Saturday.

The European Commission initiated an investigation into Anti-Subsidies for Fatty Acid Products from Indonesia on May 13, 2022. A request for an investigation was submitted by the Coalition against Unfair Trade in Fatty Acids (CUTFA) as the applicant.

The Indonesian government also actively participated in the investigation by participating in pre-initiation consultations, submitting questionnaire answers, and submitting objections to the European Commission.

During the investigation period, CUTFA withdrew the petition on 3 October 2022. With the withdrawal of this petition, pursuant to Article 14(1) of the EU Basic Regulation, the European Commission can continue or end the investigation.

Furthermore, based on the information gathered during the course of the investigation, the European Commission concluded that stopping the investigation would not be contrary to the interests of the European Union.

The Director General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Trade, Budi Santoso, said that if the reimbursement of import duties is applied to Indonesian fatty acids, there will be a separate impact on industrial users in the European Union.

"Imposing a fee for Indonesian fatty acid products will have a negative impact on Indonesia and the European Union, so we welcome the termination of this anti-subsidy investigation," said Budi.

Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, exports of fatty acid products to the European Union in the 2018-2022 period increased by 25.76 percent. The largest export value was recorded in 2021 at USD 403 million.

Meanwhile, for the January 2023 period, exports were recorded at USD 18 million. This value decreased by 44.83 percent when compared to January 2022's export value of USD 32 million.

The Director of Trade Security at the Ministry of Trade, Natan Kambuno, said that the struggle to secure the Indonesian fatty acid market in the European Union would still continue. In addition to the investigation into anti-dumping fatty acids which was successfully terminated, Indonesia is working to stop the imposition of anti-dumping duties (BMAD) on fatty acids by the European Commission.

"The termination of the anti-subsidy investigation will ease business actors and the government in securing market access for export of fatty acid products to the European Union. The Indonesian government is still struggling with its best efforts to stop the imposition of BMAD by the European Union authorities," said Natan.