Effective import duty on crude palm oil cut to 5.5% to cool edible oil prices

The government on February 12 brought down the effective duty on crude palm oil import to 5.5 percent from 8.25 percent earlier, a move which will help control cooking oil prices and support domestic processing companies. Basic customs duty is already nil on crude palm oil (CPO) and now the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) through a notification has cut the agri infra development cess to 5 per cent from 7.5 per cent, effective from February 13.

The effective import duty on crude palm oil will now come down to 5.5 percent, from 8.25 percent, after taking into account agri development cess and social welfare cess. The CBIC in a notification also extended the validity of reduced import duty on crude palm oil and other crude oils by six months till September 30.

Industry body SEA has been demanding that the difference of effective duty between the crude palm oil and refined palm oil should be 11 percentage points as higher imports of refined oil impacts domestic refineries. Effective import duty on refined palm oil is 13.75 per cent. Effective import duty on refined palm oil is 13.75 per cent. With edible oil prices ruling high throughout last year, the government had on multiple occasions cut import duty on palm oil to increase domestic availability. Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) Executive Director B B Mehta said the government has reduced the agri cess on CPO from 7.5 percent to 5 percent.

"So effective duty difference will be 8.25 (percentage points) between CPO and RBD Palmolein. Also current duty which was to revise upward from 1st April now extended up to 30th September. This means effective duty on CPO, sunflower oil and soybean oil is 5.5 percent till September 30," he said. This is a welcome step but not enough to support domestic refiners. SEA had requested to create a duty difference of minimum 11 percentage points to enable domestic refiners to operate refinery economically, he added. This is a welcome step but not enough to support domestic refiners.