Indonesia, Malaysia Ask EU to Delay Implementation of EUDR for 2026

The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia have asked European Union (EU) to delay the implementation of its European Union Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) until 2026, instead of the initial schedule of January 2025, Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) Chairman Eddy Martono said during a press conference on the performance of palm oil industry in 2023 and its prospects for 2024 in Jakarta last February 27. The proposal had been presented to the EU during the second meeting of Ad Hoc Joint Task Force on EUDR, which was conducted on February 02 in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

According to Eddy, the reasons behind the proposal to delay are mainly the fact that smallholders in Indonesia and Malaysia are not yet ready for the EUDR application. Thus, earlier implementing will only threaten the continuity of smallholders’ plantation businesses.  

Another reason is to avoid the benchmarking as a country with a high risk.  Based on the EUDR, EU will apply the benchmarking system of exporting countries based on three risk levels, namely high risk, medium risk, and low risk.  The EUDR categorizes Indonesia as high risk, which would harm Indonesia’s export commodities like palm oil, cocoa, coffee, soybean, beef, woods, rubber, paper, and leather.