Government hikes tariff value of RBD palmolein from $484/tonne to $1,053/tonne

In order to curb the rising imports of the cooking oil and protect the domestic industry the government has hiked the tariff value of refined palm oil.  In an official notification by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), it has increased the tariff value of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palmolein to $1,053 per tonne from the earlier $484 per tonne.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) last month had approved the proposal to defreeze the import tariff value of RBD palmolein and link it to global prices. The government currently imposes 7.5% duty on import of refined edible oils.

In the last few years shipments were boosted on account of lower tariff value on imported refined palmolein, the government did not tweak with the tariff value on refined palmolein and kept at $484 per tonne against the current global price of about $1,000. Besides, domestic edible oil processors were affected as Indonesia which is the largest exporter of crude palm oil to India, had lowered the export duty on refined palm oil from 15% to 8%.

Between November 2011 and April 2012, import of RBD refined palmolein stood at about 9.19 lakh tonnes, a jump of 88.7% compared to 4.87 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period in previous year. In comparison during the same period, imports of crude palm oil increased from 21.72 lakh tonnes to 24.93 tonnes, a rise of 14.8%.