Ministry of Industry Removes Suspects in Alleged CPO-POME Export Misconduct Case

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) has confirmed that it has removed the position of its employees who are suspects in the case of alleged irregularities in the export of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) since January 2026.

The confirmation was made following reports regarding the designation of 11 suspects by the Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia in the case of alleged irregularities in CPO and POME exports, one of which was said to come from the Ministry of Industry.

Ministry of Industry spokesman Febri Hendri Antoni Arif said the ministry fully respects the ongoing legal process and supports enforcement measures as part of efforts to strengthen good governance.

"Regarding the personnel of the Ministry of Industry who were mentioned in the news, since the person concerned underwent an examination several months ago, the Minister of Industry has decisively disabled the person concerned from all positions in the Ministry of Industry last month (January) through the Minister of Industry's Decree Number 14 of 2026 dated January 8, 2026," said Febri as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, February 11.

The Minister of Industry's firm steps, he continued, were taken to facilitate the examination process and as a form of the Ministry of Industry's commitment to supporting the legal process.

The Ministry of Industry, according to him, also confirmed its commitment to be cooperative, as well as ready to provide support and information needed by law enforcement officers to facilitate the investigation process.

"In the future, the Minister of Industry will continue to strengthen internal supervision as well as improve the integrity and accountability of the apparatus and close the loopholes in policy irregularities as part of prevention efforts so that similar events do not recur in the future," said Febri.

The Attorney General's Office revealed the details of the modus operandi of CPO export fraud into POME in the case of alleged corruption in the export activities of CPO and its derivatives in 2022-2024.

Director of Investigation at the Attorney General's Office for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi explained that during the period 2020-2024, the Indonesian Government imposed a policy of restricting and controlling CPO exports.

"That is an effort to maintain the availability of domestic cooking oil and price stability for the community," he said.

The policy, continued Syarief, is implemented through the domestic market obligation (DMO) mechanism, namely producers who will export CPO must set aside or prioritize a certain percentage of their products for sale in the country.

In order to support this policy, CPO is also designated as a national strategic commodity which is classified by customs with a certain Harmonized System (HS) Code, namely HS Code 1511.