02/08/2010 (The Jakarta Post) - The Indonesian palm oil industry claims to be the victim of a “black campaign” waged by European biofuel producers through Greenpeace and the EU’s renewable energy directive.

However, industry officials offered no proof, and Greenpeace flatly denied the accusation.

Fadil Hasan, executive director of the Association of Indonesian Palm Oil Producers (Gapki), said the recent Greenpeace campaign against Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas and the EU directive were partly designed to make Indonesian palm oil producers less able to compete with European biofuel producers.

Bustar Maitar, lead forest campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, challenged Gapki to produce evidence that European companies were involved in Greenpeace’s campaigns.

“If they have proof then they have to bring it to the table. Even the president [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] himself has committed to reducing Indonesia’s emissions and protecting the environment,” Bustar said.

Indonesia has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by at least 26 percent by 2020, mostly in the forestry sector.

In its latest attack on Sinar Mas, Greenpeace last week released photographs it said proved two Sinar Mas subsidiaries — palm oil firms Agro Lestari Mandiri and Bangun Nusa Mandiri — were bulldozing virgin rain forest and destroying the habitat of endangered orangutans in Kalimantan.

Sinar Mas said all its concessions had been obtained legally and were not primary forests.

Earlier, Greenpeace allegations of Sinar Mas deforestation resulted in the company losing top customers such as Unilever and Nestle.

Fadil also claimed the renewable energy directive, which the EU is expected to adopt in December, would restrict imports of biofuels based on palm oil by hitting them with higher environmental standards than those for fuels produced from sunflowers or soybeans, which are more likely to be produced in Europe.

Many experts agree with Fadil’s assessment of the directive, saying it discriminates against palm oil producers and violates WTO trade rules.

In 2009, Indonesia sent 19 percent of its 16.8 million tons of palm oil exports to the EU.