Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia and the European Union (EU) have made significant progressin the 13th round of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic PartnershipAgreement (CওEPA), including the completion of the chapter related to good regulatory practice (GRP) and the geographical indication section in thechapter related to inte⭕llectual property rights.

In a statementreleased on February 13, the Indonesian Trade Ministry's Director of BilateralNegotiations, Johni Martha, said that the GRP chapter is the second chapter tobe agreed upon by the two sides after the chapter related to hygiene and plantquarantine. Johni said that the13th round of negotiations was very important as both sides showed theirwillingness to push forward the negotiations. He also expressedoptimism that Indonesia and the EU can achieve the set goals withoutcompromising quality and potential benefits of the deal. At this round ofnegotiations, the two sides discussed 14 issues, including trade in goods, rulesof origin, technical barriers, trade in services, trade security, investment,government procurement, transparency and regulatory compliance, dispute resolution,institutional regulations, intellectual property rights, state-ownedenterprises, economic cooperation and capacity building, small and mediumenterprises. Johni emphasisedthat the organisation of the 13th round of negotiations was only two months afterthe 12th round of negotiations, which was evidence that Indonesia and the EU arecommitted to speeding up the completion of negotiations under the direction ofsenior leaders of the two sides. After a meeting at the G20 Summit in Bali last November, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Indonesian President Joko Widodo set an objective of concluding the deal before the end of their mandates, which would require an in-principle agreement by the end of this year.  Officially launchedon July 18, 2016, the CEPA negotiations between Indonesia and the EU have gone through 13 rounds, both in person and online. The 14th round of negotiations hasbeen scheduled by the two sides in Brussels, Belgium, from May 8 to 12. In 2022, the totaltrade value between Indonesia and the EU reached 33.2 billion USD, of whichIndonesia's exports accounted for 21.5 billion USD. Indonesia's mainexports to the EU include palm oil, industrial monocarboxylic fatty acids,coal, copper, and leather shoes. Meanwhile,Indonesia's main imports from the EU include iron and steel pipes, medicines,vaccines, pulp-making machines, paper, and recycled cardboard./.