Tantangan Hukum Lingkungan Internasional Dalam Laporan Panel WTO EU – Palm Oil (DS593): Perspektif Technical Barriers To Trade (TBT) Agreement

Muhammad Ariff Dwi Prastyo, Prof. Dr. Marsudi Triatmodjo, S.H., LL.M.,

2026 | Tesis | S2 Ilmu Hukum

Penelitian ini menganalisis ketegangan antara rezim hukum perdagangan internasional dan hukum lingkungan internasional dalam laporan panel EU – Palm Oil (DS593) mengenai kebijakan Uni Eropa terhadap biofuel berbasis kelapa sawit, komoditas yang strategis secara ekonomi sekaligus sensitif secara lingkungan. Analisis difokuskan pada batas integrasi prinsip hukum lingkungan internasional dalam pertimbangan Panel WTO serta implikasi laporan panel tersebut terhadap pengaturan keberlanjutan perdagangan kelapa sawit Indonesia di tengah berkembangnya regulasi lingkungan Uni Eropa.

Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian hukum normatif dengan pendekatan perundang-undangan, kasus, konseptual, dan komparatif. Bahan hukum diperoleh melalui studi kepustakaan dan dilengkapi pernyataan tertulis narasumber dari Kementerian Perdagangan sebagai bahan pelengkap. Analisis dilakukan secara kualitatif dengan teori conflict of norms Joost Pauwelyn sebagai pisau analisis dan konsep pembangunan berkelanjutan Philippe Sands sebagai parameter integrasi, dengan penarikan kesimpulan secara deduktif.

Hasil penelitian menunjukkan dua hal. Pertama, laporan panel DS593 memperlihatkan ketegangan normatif yang bersifat struktural, tetapi belum mencapai konflik norma dalam arti sempit. Panel menolak klaim Indonesia berdasarkan Article 2.4 dan Article 2.2 TBT Agreement serta menerima mitigasi risiko ILUC sebagai tujuan yang sah melalui standar rational basis. Di antara ketentuan TBT Agreement yang dianalisis, pelanggaran hanya ditemukan pada Article 2.1, yang didasarkan pada kegagalan Uni Eropa memperbarui data dan ketidakseimbangan kriteria low ILUC-risk, bukan pada ketidakabsahan konsep ILUC, sehingga kemenangan Indonesia bersifat prosedural. Kedua, ketegangan tersebut bergeser dari forum WTO ke ranah regulasi melalui EUDR, sedangkan respons Indonesia melalui ISPO, mandatori biodiesel, dan diplomasi perdagangan masih bertumpu pada dimensi ekonomi. ISPO belum mengakomodasi pembuktian bebas deforestasi, traceability, dan geolokasi yang dituntut EUDR. Dengan demikian, kemenangan prosedural dalam DS593 belum menghasilkan keberlanjutan perdagangan kelapa sawit secara substantif.

This research analyses the tension between the international trade law regime and international environmental law in the EU – Palm Oil (DS593) panel report concerning EU measures on palm oil-based biofuels, a commodity that is economically strategic and environmentally sensitive. The analysis focuses on the limits of integrating international environmental law principles into the WTO Panel's reasoning and on the implications of the panel report for the regulation of sustainable palm oil trade in Indonesia amid evolving EU environmental regulation.

This is normative legal research employing statutory, case, conceptual, and comparative approaches. Legal materials were obtained through library research and supplemented by a written statement from a resource person at the Ministry of Trade. The materials were analysed qualitatively, using Joost Pauwelyn's conflict of norms theory as the analytical lens and Philippe Sands' concept of sustainable development as the parameter of integration, and conclusions were drawn deductively.

The findings are twofold. First, the DS593 panel report reveals a structural normative tension that does not amount to a conflict of norms in the strict sense. The Panel rejected Indonesia's claims under Articles 2.4 and 2.2 of the TBT Agreement and accepted the mitigation of ILUC risk as a legitimate objective under a rational basis standard. Among the TBT provisions examined, a violation was found only under Article 2.1, based on the EU's failure to update its data and the unbalanced low ILUC-risk criteria rather than on the invalidity of the ILUC concept, so Indonesia's victory was procedural. Second, the tension has shifted from the WTO forum to regulation through the EUDR, while Indonesia's response through ISPO, the biodiesel mandate, and trade diplomacy remains centred on the economic dimension. ISPO does not yet accommodate the deforestation-free proof, traceability, and geolocation required by the EUDR. Indonesia's procedural victory in DS593 has therefore not produced substantive sustainability in the palm oil trade.

Kata Kunci : Conflict of Norms, DS593, International Environmental Law, Palm Oil, TBT Agreement.