Indonesia scores partial WTO win in fight over EU trade barriers for fatty acid exports

JAKARTA, July 15 — Indonesia has secured a partial victory at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in its dispute with the European Union (EU) over anti-dumping duties on Indonesian fatty acid products, boosting its efforts to restore market access to the bloc.

Trade Minister Budi Santoso said the government would use the WTO Panel Report as the basis for pursuing all available avenues, including trade diplomacy, to ensure Indonesian fatty acid products no longer face trade barriers in the EU market.

“The government will not stop safeguarding the interests of our national export commodities. Although the WTO Panel upheld only some of our claims, our main focus now is to move forward by pursuing all available strategic alternatives, including trade diplomacy,” he said in a statement issued by the Trade Ministry on Wednesday.

Indonesia initiated WTO dispute DS622 after challenging the EU’s anti-dumping duties on imports of Indonesian fatty acid products, arguing that the measures were inconsistent with WTO rules.

According to the ministry, the WTO Panel Report published on July 8 upheld part of Indonesia’s claims, finding inconsistencies in the methodology used by EU authorities to calculate dumping margins.

While describing the ruling as an important step towards fair and rules-based trade, the ministry noted that several of Indonesia’s substantive claims were rejected and that the decision did not invalidate the EU’s anti-dumping duties in their entirety.

Budi said the government would continue strengthening trade diplomacy, economic partnerships, and multilateral and bilateral cooperation, while consulting the domestic fatty acid industry to develop market adjustment measures aimed at restoring and sustaining exports to the European market. — Bernama