KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (Bernama) -- The Palm Oil Refiners' Association ofMalaysia (PORAM) has proposed that the 5.0 percent duty for products suchas bleached palm stearin, refined palm stearin and neutralised palmstearin, be abolished or reclassify under other palm oil products tariffcode that do not carry any export duty.

These products should be accorded the same status as the other palm oilproducts, it said in its memorandum to the Ministry of International Tradeand Industry (MITI) in conjunction with MITI's annual dialogue 2002.

"Products such as hydrogenated stearin is a value added product from downstream production and should not be taxable," it said.

The association also seeks clarification on the current and future policyon the duty free exports of crude palm oil (CPO) in the light of theexpected tightness of supplies.

It said that refiners were feeling uneasy that the granting of duty-freeexports of CPO might be a permanent policy or intensified in the comingyear. -- BERNAMA

(The informations and opinions expressed in this article represent theviews of the author only. They should not be seen as necessarilyreflecting the views of Palm News)