Govt raises import duty on edible oils to boost local prices

Govt raises import duty on edible oils to boost local prices

The basic custom duty on crude palm oil has been doubled to 30%.

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Government has raised the import duty on nearly all the edible oils in a bid to control cheap imports and to boost domestic prices to support the local refiners and farmers. 

“Import duty on crude palm oil has been increased to 30% from 15% and on refined oil to 40% from 25%,” according to notification (No.87/2017-customs), issued by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

Import duty on sunflower oils, soyabean oil, canola/mustard oils, including crude as well as refined format, has been increased, the notification said.

The basic custom duty on crude palm oil has been doubled to 30%, whereas the import duty on refined crude palm oil been raised to 40% from the current 25%, it said.

In addition, the basic custom duty on crude soyabean oil import has been hiked to 30% from 17.5%, while the import duty of refined soyabean oil has been increased to 35% from the 20%.

Likewise, the Government has also increased the import duty on crude sunflower oil to 25% from the current 12.5, whereas the refined sunflower oil will attract a basic suctom duty of 35% instead of 20%.

Also, the basic custom duty on the imports of crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils has been raised to 25% from 12.5%, whereas on refined crude canola/rapeseed/mustard oils, the import duty has been increased to 35% from 20%.

India, the world's biggest importer of edible oils, imported around 154.5 lakh tonnes of edible and non-edible oils in the marketing year 2016-17 (November-October), an increase of 4.75% compared to 147.38 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

India mainly buys palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and a marginal quantity of soyabean oil from Latin America. The country imports sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia.

 

The Dollar Business Bureau - Nov 20, 2017 12:00 IST