JAKARTA - The Indonesian government and the European Union (EU) are negotiating an agreement to exchange registration of a number of Geographical Indication (GI) products, including coffee beans, in the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA). This was conveyed by Agus Suparmanto, Minister of Trade at the Indonesia Coffee Week and Coffee Tasting of Gayo Arabica Coffee event in Jakarta, yesterday (21/9).
He said that GI products are products from a certain region that have the quality and characteristics of their area of origin. "The characteristics include natural factors, human factors or a combination of the two factors," he said.
He also explained that Gayo Arabica coffee was the first Indonesian IG product to be recognized in Europe. With the finalization of the IEU-CEPA, he said, various types of coffee and other IG products could be recognized by the European Union market.
In 2019, Indonesia's coffee exports reached US$883 million, 8% higher than its record in 2018 (US$815 million). (LK/AR)