April 13 2005 - THE Palm Oil Refiners Association has urged the Governmentto intensify efforts to overcome imbalances between soyabean oil and palmoil products, both bilaterally and through global trade talks.

It said despite the Association of South-East Asian Nations Free TradeArea and World Trade Organisation initiatives, there still existdifferential and discriminatory import duties for processed palm oilproducts in many markets.

In the international market, processed palm oil products continue to facetariff and non-tariff barriers, it said.

Meanwhile, fruit exporters have asked that licensing requirements as wellas grading and inspection schemes be simplified or abolished to fast-trackclearance of export shipments.

The Malaysian Fruits Exporters Association said currently there isduplication in quality inspection of the fruits for export by the FederalAgriculture Marketing Agency and the Agriculture Department.