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Chennai , Nov. 15

THE Government has hiked the base price for import of edible oils again. The hike, made through a customs notification, has fuelled another price increase, according to trade sources.

The hike in base price is the third in the last one month in keeping with the increase in international prices. This has taken the price of crude palm oil from $440 per tonne to $504 per tonne. This is also expected to offer a measure of protection to the domestic growers, they said.

In the latest notification issued on Thursday, the tariff value of crude palm oil has been fixed at $504 per tonne compared to $472 per tonne fixed on October 29. RBD palm oil is now $543 ($503), others-palm oil $523, crude palmolein $532 ($497), RBD palmolein $552 ($515), others-palmolein $542.

Tariff value is the base price at which the customs duty will be imposed on these oils. The duty on refined palmolein and refined palm oil is 70 per cent. For crude palm oil, it is 65 per cent.

Traders said one good that has come of the notification was that the categorisation of the others-palm oil and others - palmolein based on beta carotene content had been clearly brought under the 70 per cent import duty. Earlier, the customs officials were categorising it under the 70 per cent or 92 per cent category in different ports leading to confusion.

However, traders in Tamil Nadu continue to be hit by the four per cent sales tax, 1 per cent multi-point tax and the turnover tax. This has resulted in diversion of businesses to the neighbouring States. Apart from the imbalance due to the tax structure, traders have had to pay up sales tax even as the consignment is unloaded from the tankers, they said.

The officials concerned do not wait for the commodity to be sold but demand a post-dated cheque. This means that with prices ranging around Rs 44,000 per tonne, traders have to shell out Rs 17,600 per lorry load of 10 tonnes as sales tax before sales are effected. The money is tied up for several weeks if the traders plan to hold on to stocks, they said.

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