Jakarta. Indonesia recently asked Liberia to support its fight against the smear campaign targeted at palm oil as Jakarta remains alarmed at Europe’s policy against its top commodity.

Palm oil has been subject to discrimination in the West with criticisms accusing the sector of being responsible for deforestation, among others. The European Union or EU’s anti-deforestation law takes the center stage of this anti-palm oil campaign. This law --popularly known by its acronym EUDR-- will likely make it harder for Indonesian palm oil to enter the European market as the bloc will require traders to prove they do not come from deforested land.  

While there are still months before the EUDR fully enters into force this December, Indonesia is trying to gain as much support as it can. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo even raised the issue when hosting his Liberian counterpart Joseph Nyumah Boakai on the sidelines of the Indonesia-Africa forum in Bali on Monday.

“The palm oil industry is often a target of black campaigns in the Western world, including the discriminatory EUDR policy. Indonesia continues to fight this negative campaign and hopes Liberia can also continue to support [us],” Jokowi told Boakai. 

The government only broadcasted the beginning part of the talks. As seen in the broadcasted snippet, the Liberian leader did not respond to Jokowi’s call for help to shield the palm oil sector.

According to a UN Development Programme document, oil palm production covers over more than 1 million hectares in Liberia. Approximately 21.2 percent of the farming households produce palm oil. The Liberian oil sector employs over 220,00 people.

The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) data showed Liberia exported $90.8 million worth of palm oil throughout 2022 with exports mainly going to the Netherlands.