Webinar: Law Enforcement Towards Oil Palm Legality in Indonesia

Indonesia, with the world’s largest oil palm plantation area, requires improved governance in oil palm production in the upstream-downstream sectors, particularly in licensing and business legality. Many plantations remain in forest areas due to unclear regulations before the enactment of the Job Creation Law. The Job Creation Law (Law No. 6 of 2023), despite its controversy, aims to resolve the problem of overlapping regulations related to any sector, including oil palm plantation permits in forest areas.

On March 27th, 2024, Inovasi Digital held a webinar entitled “Law Enforcement Towards Oil Palm Legality in Indonesia,” which discussed how the Indonesian Government regulates the forest and plantation sector issues through the Omnibus Law (Law No. 6 of 2023). This webinar was open only to partners to inform them about ensuring their suppliers comply with current Indonesian regulations regarding plantations in forest areas.

The webinar explained the condition and obstacles of Indonesian forest regulations regarding land use inside forested areas and the use of regulations to resolve them, especially through Article 110A and 110B of the Omnibus Law. Additionally, various findings by Inovasi Digital regarding mills that are indicated to receive supplies from plantations located in forest areas were presented. The webinar also explained how certified companies and mills are still located in forest areas.

The Omnibus Law requires companies with legality issues regarding plantations located inside forest areas to report to the government and pay administrative fines. The processing of each company’s case will be different, depending on the conditions that bind the company, both in terms of licenses and location within each forest type.

Companies must immediately ensure that their supply chains fulfill the obligations and responsibilities mandated by the Job Creation Law. Failure to meet the legality aspect can lead to various problems, especially when entering the market. The reporting deadline for companies that violate the Job Creation Law was November 2nd, 2023, after which non-reporting companies will be subject to criminal law.

Detailed information related to data access, including maps and legal evidence documentation, is available within the Agriplot DDS subscription.