The European Union (EU) has appealed the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s decision supporting Indonesia’s complaints against EU duties imposed on its biodiesel exports.
On 22 August, the WTO dispute panel had assessed that Indonesia’s export duty and export levy on palm oil could not be categorised as a subsidy, and that the European Commission (EC) had failed to prove a threat of material harm to European biodiesel producers, the Edge Malaysia reported.
Welcoming the EU’s decision, Xavier Noyon, secretary general of the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) said: “It demonstrates the EU’s commitment to defending compliance and maintaining fair trade rules in the biofuels sector, especially as global competition intensifies.”
“Without decisive follow-through, the risk is that anti-dumping and countervailing measures could be overturned or weakened, undermining the integrity of European biofuels and placing compliant producers at a disadvantage.”
The WTO decision followed a 2023 complaint by Indonesia contending that EU duties imposed on its biodiesel exports to the bloc broke WTO rules.
The EC imposed provisional countervailing duties of 8%-18% on Indonesian biodiesel in 2019 following a probe initiated in December 2018 into Indonesian biodiesel imports. This resulted in Indonesia’s exports of palm oil-based biodiesel to the EU dropping from 1.32M kilolitres in 2019 to 27,000 kilolitres in 2024, according to Reuters.
Indonesia expressed regret over the EU’s decision to appeal the panel’s findings, the WTO said in a 26 September statement on its website.
The EU noted that it had invited Indonesia to join the multi-party interim appeal arbitration arrangement (MPIA), a temporary solution created by some WTO members to maintain a functioning system for resolving trade disputes after the WTO’s appellate body stopped functioning in 2019, due to the USA blocking the appointment of new judges.
Over 50 WTO members, including the EU, Canada, China and Brazil, belong to the MPIA but Indonesia is not currently a member.
