WTO favours EU over Indonesia on palm oil restrictions

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has mostly supported the European Union's (EU) restrictions on the use of palm oil in biofuels, following a complaint by Indonesia. The dispute panel's findings were largely in favor of the EU, but it also identified some flaws in the way the measures were implemented and communicated. The dispute stems from the EU Renewable Energy Directive of 2018 (RED II), which limits the eligibility of crop-based biofuels and phases out palm oil-based biofuels by 2030 due to sustainability concerns. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's leading producers of palm oil, have brought separate complaints against the EU.

World Trade Organization experts on Friday largely upheld European Union restrictions on use of palm oil in biofuels following a complaint by Indonesia. Indonesia, the world’s leading producer of palm oil, in 2019 requested an expert panel review of the EU restrictions. The dispute panel has “found largely in favor of the European Union”, a Geneva-based trade official told AFP. “However, the panel found certain deficiencies in how the challenged measures had been prepared, published and administered,” the official added. The dispute concerns the EU Renewable Energy Directive of 2018 (RED II) which limited the eligibility of crop-based biofuels to count towards member states’ renewable energy targets, and phased out the eligibility of palm oil-based biofuels altogether by 2030. The EU has deemed that palm oil production is not sustainable. A WTO dispute panel issued a similar ruling on the EU restrictions last year, in a complaint lodged by Malaysia. Indonesia and Malaysia together ...