The Hindu Business Line : `Olive oil costlier on high Customs duty'

Chennai March 12 The high price of olive oil in the country is due to two factors namely stiff government import duties and "a lack of diversity in choosing olive oil producing markets", says Mr Habib Essid, Executive Director of the International Olive Oil Council.

Currently in India to carry out his mandate of promoting the use of olive oil in new markets across the world, he held meetings with top officials in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Processing in New Delhi in the last few days.

He said India consumed barely 2,000 tonnes of olive oil a year; "a quantity that is too low for a country of India's population."

The high cost is a big deterrent in consumption but high import duties are responsible for this. "Those who import pay 50 per cent duty for packaged olive oil, and 80 per cent for bulk. These tariffs are huge and make the price extremely high."

Another problem is that the importers bring in very small quantities, and "when you do that, you can't get a good price. You also need to diversify. I find that 90 per cent of the olive oil imported into India is from Italy and the rest from Spain," said Mr Essid.

Indian importers must look beyond these two markets and at other olive oil producing countries; that would help in stabilising prices.

Covering more areas

Mr Essid said that the Agriculture Ministry officials discussed with him the possibilities of increasing the areas under olive cultivation in India. The Rajasthan Government has formed a co-operation with an Israeli company for growing olives "and I was also told about another project being implemented with co-operation from the Italian Government," he added.

At the Ahar food exhibition, he met a few edible oil importers and discussed the possibilities of importing more quantities.

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