17.07.2023 (Antara News) - Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has urged all palm oil companies who are based in forest areas to fulfill all licensing requirements before November 2, 2023.

"We all hope that the fulfillment of the requirements can be completed before the deadline, which is November 2, 2023," secretary general of the ministry, Bambang Hendroyono, said at the "Socialization of Palm Oil Settlement in Forest Areas" event in Jakarta on Monday.

November 2 has been set as the deadline referring to Law Number 11 of 2020 or the Job Creation Law, he added.

The Job Creation Law, he said, which has now become Law Number 6 of 2023, states that the settlement of oil palm plantations in forest areas will be divided into two typological clusters, in accordance with Articles 110A and 110B.

Oil palm plantations that have already been set up, own a business permit, and have followed the spatial layout provided at the time of permit issuance, but are currently located in a production forest area, protected forest area, and conservation forest area will fall under the Article 110A cluster, he informed.

"This happened because there was a spatial dispute before Law 26 of 2007 with forest areas," he said.

Meanwhile, Article 110B oil palm plantations are those that have been built in production forest areas, protected forest areas, and conservation forest areas, and do not have permits, he explained.

"The settlement will be resolved through the imposition of administrative sanctions in the form of an obligation to pay administrative fines in the forestry sector," he added.

In this task, the Ministry will be assisted by the task force for improving governance of the palm oil industry and optimizing state revenue of (Satgas Sawit), which was listed in Presidential Decree Number 9 of 2023 and stipulated on April 14, 2023, he said.

It is hoped that the socialization of the issue can help achieve a common goal, which is the realization of good palm oil industry governance, Hendroyono added.

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