2/24/2003 (Financial Express) -There is likelihood of a 10 per cent dutycut on crude palm oil (CPO) to be announced by Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee during his Malaysian visit beginning on Saturday. The duty-cut isexpected in the face of mounting pressure from Malaysia and domesticvanaspati industry which uses CPO as its principal raw material.According to official sources, "Up to 10 per cent cut in the customs dutyon CPO from the present 65 per cent is under active consideration and ifcleared a formal announcement is expected during Vajpayee's Kualalumpurvisit". However sources say that, "Customs duty on other oils are likelyto be left untouched."The matter has been deliberated upon with Malaysia's primary industryminister Lin Keng Yaik on his visit to India this week. Mr Yaik heldclosed door meetings with several Indian ministers including food ministerSharad Yadav and finance minister Jaswant Singh on the issue."If the duty cut is not announced now, there is a chance of theannouncement being made in the forthcoming Union Budget," said sources.CPO is the single largest imported oil whose purchase has risen to 18.91lakh tonne in the last season from 14.01 lakh tonne in 2000-01. Thedomestic edible oil imports could rise to an all time high of 55 lakhtonne or even more as domestic oilseeds output is pegged to fall to thelowest level in more than 13 years at 154 lakh tonne in 2002-03.