NEW DELHI, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- With the hike in duty and raising of thetariff value (value on which duty is charge) the effective incidence ofduty on crude pal m oil has gone up by US$24.90 (US$1=RM3.8) a tonne andon crude palmolein by US$17.25 a tonne.

Similarly, in the case of RBD palm oil the incidence of duty has gone upby US$5.75 a tonne while in the case of RBD palmolein it has gone up byUS$6.35 a tonne.

The Indian Government through a notification issued on Tuesday, raised thecustoms duty on crude palm oil (CPO) and its fractions (which covers crudepalmolein) to 80 percent from 65 percent, while that on other palm oils(including refined bleached, de-odorised or RBD palm oil and RBDpalmolein) to 90 percent from 75 percent.

The tariff value has been reduced from US$454 to US$400 per tonne on CPO,from US$489 to US$415 per tonne on RBD palm oil, from US$471 to US$410 pertonne on `other palm oils', from US$479 to US$412 per tonne on crudepalmolein, from US$497 to US$425 per tonne on RBD palmolein and fromUS$488 to US$420 a tonne on `others-palmolein.'

With the new duty structure and the revised tariff value, the landed priceof crude palm oil in Indian ports would be Rs. 31,482 (US$720), of RBDpalm oil Rs.34,477.25 (US$788.5), of RBD palmolein Rs.35,308.00(US$807.5), of crude palmolein Rs.34,288 (Rs.784.17) and of other palmoils Rs.34,062 (US$779).

The net impact of the duty revision and tariff value reduction would be tomake imported palm oil more costly for the consumer, though it wouldprovide some additional protection to country's oilseed growers,particularly at a time when rapeseed-mustard crop is being harvested.

The other ramification of the government decisions would be increasing theviability of soyabean oil imports from Brazil, the US and Argentina,compared to palm oil from Malaysia or Indonesia.

This is because the government has left unchanged the import duty and thetariff value on crude soya oil at 45 per cent and US$565 per tonnerespectively. Further, there is no tariff value applicable to refined soyaoil, which would make imports even more viable proposition.

In fact, says a report, the landed cost of refined soya oil in Indianports is currently around US$540 per tonne, which is lower than the US$565per tonne tariff value on crude soya oil.

-- BERNAMA