Indonesia mulls joining WTO environmental products talks
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The talks are being held under the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA), which is a trade negotiation framework between 44 countries, including the U.S., China, Singapore, and Australia as well as the EU.
The agreement aims to eliminate import tariffs for environmental products, such as solar panels and water management technology. Indonesia is not among the 44 countries.
The agreement was an important agenda item at the recent G20 meeting in Shanghai, China. G20 is an international forum consisting of the world’s largest 20 economies.
Trade Minister Thomas Lembong, who attended the meeting, said G-20 ministers aimed to have the deal completed by the end of the year. He said Indonesia would look into the possibility of joining the plurilateral negotiations.
“To be frank, this agreement is new for us. We first need to know what goods are included in the talks,” Thomas told reporters after a meeting at the State Palace recently. ■