Malaysia Asks India to Review CPO Import Duty

From Sh Nur Shahrizad Sy Mohamed Sharer NEW DELHI, Jan 27 (BERNAMA) -- Malaysia hopes India would review its import duty on Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO) which was raised to 30 per cent from 15 per cent previously. Prime Minister Najib Razak said he expressed the hope during his meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi Friday. "The palm oil import duty increase was somewhat higher than that of any other vegetable oils, so I want it to be looked into again by the Indian government. “Prime Minister Modi said he will give serious consideration to the request,” he told the Malaysian media here Friday. Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the import duty increase could have an impact on the purchase of palm oil as India is Malaysia’s second largest buyer. In November, the Indian government raised the import duty on Malaysian CPO to 30 per cent from 15 per cent previously, in order to control cheaper shipments and to support its local refiners. Similarly, the import tax on soya and sunflower had been raised to 30 per cent from 17.5 per cent and 25 per cent from 12.5 per cent, respectively. India imports about 14.5 million tonnes of vegetable oil from Malaysia and Indonesia annually to meet its domestic demand for edible oil. Indonesia and Malaysia together account for 85 per cent of the world’s CPO output and 91 per cent to palm oil exports. -- BERNAMA