10/09/2012 (The Guardian) - Key players in the palm oil industry have condemned attempt by some investors in crude palm oil refining to influence the Federal Government to slash the tariff on the commodity from 35 per cent to 10 per cent.

It learnt that some foreign investors had been lobbying the Presidency to cut the tariff on imported crude palm oil in order to create market for their refineries.

In a statement from the Plantation Owners’ Forum of Nigeria (POFON) yesterday, the group claimed that some foreigners were behind the move after their failed attempt to operate crude palm oil refinery in Nigeria.

Some members of POFON are the Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc, Presco Plc, Calabar Oil Palm Estates Limited, Dansa Agro Plantation Limited, A & Hatman, JB Farms, Nasak and Aden River Estate.

The statement, which was signed by the group’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Fatai Afolabi, accused firms from Malaysia of acting from behind the scene to influence government against the interest of local operators, adding that the foreign outfits were bent on causing retrogression in the growing oil palm industry in Nigeria.

Afolabi said that the group was aware of the unsuccessful bid by the Malaysian firms to get the National Economic Management Team (EMT) to endorse their bid to reduce the current tariff on the imported Crude Palm Oil (CPO) from 35 per cent to 10 per cent.

“This botched move is very worrisome as it has exposed the desperation and do or die disposition of the promoters of Malaysian companies in Nigeria. These ‘agents’ are clearly hell-bent on making our country a dumping ground for ‘cheap’ foreign palm oil.

“Our concerns are further heightened by the fact that this is coming barely two days after the stakeholders’ meeting on the amendment of CET (2008-2012), where the deliberations on vegetable oil tariff was deadlocked and the Budget Office of the Federation promised to reconvene a stand-alone discussion session for this segment.”

Afolabi alleged that the promoters of CPO tariff cut had taken the matter through the backdoor to the EMT to circumvent the position of the stakeholders present at the CET meeting on September 3, 2012.

“It is pertinent to state that at the just-concluded CET meeting, a Malaysian firm asked for tariff reduction while POFON, the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN) and the Vegetable and Edible Oil Producers Association of Nigeria (VEOPAN) rejected the request,” he said.

According to Afolabi, the foreign outfit had set out to build a CPO refinery in Lagos, but at the point of completion of same, it suddenly realised that CPO was not available locally to run its plant. “To assuage this obviously deliberate oversight, the company is insisting on importing CPO at five to 10 per cent tariff.