Joint Press Release

Civil Society Coalition of Human Rights and Environmental Observers

"Discussions on the Palm Oil Bill Must Be Stopped Immediately"

(Wednesday, May 17, 2017) The process of drafting the Palm Oil Bill is rolling again. On April 4, 2017, the Legislative Body of the House of Representatives (DPR-RI) held a discussion process for drafting the Palm Oil Bill through a Public Hearing (RDPU) in order to Harmonize, Round Up and Strengthen the Concept of the Bill on Palm Oil. In the forum, it was stated that the Palm Oil Bill is intended as a Lex Specialis of the existing Plantation Law. This bill also aims to provide protection for palm oil commodities from other countries. Another surprising thing is that the DPR stated that it is necessary to raise awareness among the public and environmentalists that palm oil does not cause land degradation and is also the largest consumer of groundwater.

The resumption of discussions on the Palm Oil Bill demonstrates parliamentarians' lack of understanding of the palm oil plantation issue.

The Strategic Planning of the Directorate General of Plantations, Ministry of Agriculture 2015-2019 stated that the problems related to the agricultural sector as a whole are: 1) environmental damage and climate change; 2) infrastructure, facilities, land and water; 3) land ownership; 4) national seed and seedling systems; 5) farmer access to capital for farmer institutions and extension workers; integration between sectors, and the performance of agricultural bureaucratic services. This at least reflects the conformity with the contents of the Resolution issued by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, European Parliament , which prohibits palm-based biodiesel because it is considered to still create many problems from deforestation, corruption, child labor, and even human rights violations. The majority of members of the European Parliament also agreed.

Instead of improving governance and reviewing current palm oil plantation practices, the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) instead introduced the controversial Palm Oil Bill. The bill was approved by the DPR in January 2017 as a Priority Bill for 2017.

The Civil Society Coalition of Human Rights and Environmental Observers has prepared a special policy paper addressing the ongoing Palm Oil Bill in the House of Representatives (DPR). The policy paper, "Why Discussions on the Palm Oil Bill Must Be Stopped Immediately," outlines seven reasons why the government should reject further deliberations on the bill initiated by the DPR.

First , rather than defending national interests, the bill's content protects the interests of the corporations that control the palm oil industry, most of which are foreign. Currently, the largest shareholder of palm oil in Indonesia is Malaysia, followed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, France, and the Netherlands. The largest holders of debt/bonds are the United States, Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Germany, Japan, and Italy. Meanwhile, the largest lenders in the industry are Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Japan, and Germany.

Second , a special law to specifically regulate palm oil is not necessary because most of the norms contained in the Palm Oil Bill are already regulated in Law No. 39 of 2014 concerning Plantations, Law No. 7 of 2014 concerning Trade, and Law No. 32/2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management.

"This bill has the potential to create conflicting norms in its implementing regulations and will actually create legal uncertainty, not only for affected communities but also for businesses themselves," said Henri Subagiyo, Executive Director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL). "Rather than spending public money on a new law, it would be better to immediately finalize the various derivative regulations on palm oil mandated by the Plantation Law."

Third , the Palm Oil Bill has the potential to disrupt the functions and provisions stipulated in various other laws. This is because the bill "cuts" the criminal penalties for violations and the use of means and/or methods that could harm human health and safety, or cause disruption and damage to natural resources and/or the environment, from a maximum of five years' imprisonment and a fine of five billion rupiah to a maximum of one year and four months and a fine of 145 million rupiah.

Fourth , this bill has the potential to undermine various government policies aimed at protecting the environment and community rights. It is strongly oriented toward facilitating foreign interests and maintaining the status quo regarding land ownership dominance in Indonesia, including the clearing of new land and permitting oil palm cultivation on protected peatlands. Therefore, this bill clearly contradicts Jokowi's commitment to agrarian reform, the planned palm oil moratorium policy, and the President's policy of total peatland protection.

Fifth , this bill gives more privileges to large businesses than to the welfare of small farmers and palm oil workers.

"Indonesia's current interest is legal security for laborers, workers, and smallholder farmers involved in the palm oil business, not justification for large corporations to seize the land of the people and indigenous communities," Wiko Saputra (AURIGA) emphasized. He noted that the bill does not contain a provision explicitly stipulating that indigenous communities can refuse to have their land converted to oil palm plantations.

Sixth , this bill has the potential to exacerbate land and social conflicts in the plantation sector. Data from the Directorate General of Plantations (DGIP) in 2012 recorded 739 cases of what it called business disruptions and plantation conflicts, with 539 cases being land conflicts (72.25%), 185 non-land disputes (25.05%), and 15 forestry disputes (2%). Amidst these rampant land conflicts, the introduction of the Palm Oil Bill, which would legalize large-scale illegal plantations, is simply illogical.

"This bill ignores the principles of respecting human rights in the plantation sector. Existing palm oil regulations should adopt human rights due diligence provisions as a form of implementation of the "respect" pillar of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights ," said Andi Muttaqien of ELSAM.

Finally , this bill would threaten Indonesia's remaining forests and peatlands by whitewashing and protecting illegal activities in forest areas. This bill has the potential to negate Regulation No. 71 of 2014 concerning the Protection and Management of Peat Ecosystems. The Government Regulation on Peat Protection states that everyone is prohibited from clearing new land until the protected and cultivated zones of peat ecosystem areas for specific crops have been established. However, this will no longer apply if the Palm Oil Bill is passed into law.

The Civil Society Coalition of Human Rights and Environmental Observers urged the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to improve palm oil governance in a way that does not create new problems.

"We urge the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to halt new permits in forest areas, review the legality of existing plantation land, conduct human rights audits, and empower affected communities, including smallholder farmers, laborers, indigenous communities, and local communities," concluded Teguh Surya of the Sustainable Madani Foundation.

Contact Person:

Andi Muttaqien (Deputy Director of Advocacy ELSAM) – 08121996984, andi@elsam.or.id

Mansuetus Darto (Chairman of the Palm Oil Farmers Union – SPKS), 082110277700, darto.spks@gmail.com

Wiko Saputra (Economic Policy Researcher at AURIGA Nusantara), 082124666788

Henri Subagiyo (Executive Director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law – ICEL), 1. 081585741001, henrisubagiyo@gmail.com

Nurhanuddin Ahmad (Deputy Director of Sawit Watch), 08128748726, rambo@sawitwatch.or.id

Teguh Surya, Executive Director of the Madani Berkelanjutan Foundation, 081915191979, teguh.surya@arsip.madaniberkelanjutan.id

Coalition of Civil Society Observers of the Environment and Human Rights:

Madani | ICEL | Epistema Institute | SAFE | ELSAM | Heritage | Kaoem Palm | FWI | HuMA | Greenpeace | Auriga | JPIK

Press Release on

the Palm Oil Bill

Letter to the President