11.04.2018 (Global Indonesian Voices (GIVnews.com)) - Jakarta, GIVnews.com – Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman is reportedly asking a visiting UN official to help ease the ongoing black campaigns allegedly conducted by European countries against Indonesia’s palm oil and palm oil products. Over the years, palm oil has been Indonesia’s major foreign exchange earner.

The European countries had only focused on deforestation issues and had given less attention to the welfare of Indonesian farmers, Minister Amran told Hilal Elver. The latter is UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, who as the minister’s office in South Jakarta on Monday (9/4), according to a Kontan.co.id report.

“We have asked her for help against black campaigns from European countries. I told her that we have our own standards and that we do not want to be dictated by any other country,” the Indonesian official said.

However, the report did not specify how far the two officials discussed the alleged black campaign issue. Indonesia, along with Malaysia, is the world’s largest palm oil producer and exporter. The two countries have been struggling to push the European Union to stop its control over palm oil exports to the region. The European Union insists that the development of palm oil industry in Indonesia had caused vast deforestation and forest fires in the country.

Currently, the greatest portion of Indonesia’s palm oil exports goes to India, China, Pakistan, Netherlands, Malaysia, Egypt, and Bangladesh.