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Customs revenue increasing; Needs to be diverted to Oilseed Devpt Fund
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Thursday, 24 January, 2019, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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No nation can compromise its edible oil security, and in a bid to augment oilseed production at a time when the Customs revenue from oil imports is touching a whopping Rs 30,000-plus crore per annum in India, it would be in the fitness of things to divert a part of this money to the Oilseed Development Fund.
The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) has made several representations to decision makers to take up oilseed development in mission mode.
It has kept in mind the fact that the well-being of the Indian edible oil industry is largely dependent on the health of the oilseed farmer. If the oilseed farmer is happy, the sustainability of the sector is guaranteed.
SEA is following up on this with the Government of India (GoI) and hoping to have some favourable news in the forthcoming Budget.
Make abroad, sell in India
The New Year gift given by GoI to the palm refining industry of Malaysia in the form of reducing the duty difference between CPO and Palmolein has the potential of sounding the death knell of our domestic Industry.
The notification has halved the duty difference between CPO and Palmolein from 10 per cent to five per cent on Palmolein to be imported from Malaysia. However, this concession is not available to Palmolein coming from Indonesia or any other ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) member nation.
This will result in a piquant position, as the same oil will attract different duties from different origins. The duty reduction has reduced the effective duty difference between CPO and RBO Palmolein to just five per cent against the previous 10 per cent.
This decision of GoI is contrary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative and would also seriously stymie the efforts at improving oil palm cultivation in our country. Needless to say, this will also harm the interests of the oilseed farmer, who was lately getting enthused with relatively high import duties.
Before the country could recover from this first blow, it received a second blow by way of abnormal reduction in tariff value on crude palm oil and RBD Palmolein. The current revision of tariff value on January 15, 2019 on crude palm oil and RBD palmolein is out of sync and needs to be immediately corrected to be in line with the market price.
Needless to mention, due to the reduction in the duty difference between CPO and RBD Palmolein to five per cent with effect from January 1, 2019, the industry is already facing a serious threat of closure and with lower tariff value difference, the refiners will be in great trouble to operate their refinery and may be forced to close down, leading to a shortage of edible oil supply.
We hope the Government will look into the matter and correct the tariff value immediately in line with the market prices and also higher tariff value for RBD Palmolein shipment from Malaysia.
FSSAI notification – Impact on blended veg oil mfrs
Since 1992, the Government has allowed the blending of edible oils with a stipulation of blending of two edible oils with minimum 20 per cent. Recently, it issued a draft notification suggesting that blended edible oils should have a SFA:MUFA:PUFA balance in the range of 1:1-1.5:1, with an ideal ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6. It is not feasible to manufacture the blended oil in the given ratio with a blend of only two oils. If these standards are taken forward, all blended edible oil manufacturing companies will have no choice but to close their units.
The association has strongly represented to FSSAI to remove this compulsions of fatty acid ratio. Prabodh S Halde, convener, SEA-food regulatory and legal committee, and his team prepared a detailed technical note, which has been submitted to FSSAI, requesting to look into the submission and withdraw the notification.
NOC required to draw ground water
The ground water level in our country has sunk below 600-700ft and poses a severe threat to the future of water availability for drinking as well as farming. Recently, the Central Ground Water Authority, under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, in pursuance of the directions of the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi, issued Notification S O 6140(E) dated December 12, 2018, notifying the revised guidelines to regulate groundwater over-exploitation and for conservation of the groundwater resources in the country. Also, these guidelines have provisions for the levy of a water conservation fee on the project proponents for ground water extraction.
Members of the association in the manufacturing sector and drawing groundwater are advised to go through the Notification, which is already being circulated by the Association, and obtain the requisite permissions, as applicable/required, for drawing ground water before July 1, 2019.
Water conservation initiative
Haresh Vyas, co-convener, SEA Castor Council, and his team are doing excellent work for model castor farms and have established a very good network with farmers. The association has decided to introduce, along with the Model Castor Farm Project, a water conservation initiative through the network of farmers during the current year for creating awareness on optimising water usage. We need to wake up now, or else the legacy which we leave for the next generation would be terribly water-deficient.
Need to allow bulk export of rapeseed/mustard oil
Under the vegetable oils sector, only rapeseed oil/mustard oil is subjected to the condition of a maximum pack size of 5kg for export. All the other vegetable oils are permitted to be freely exported irrespective of the pack size. This condition on rapeseed oil/mustard oil is very detrimental to its trade in the international market. It also adversely affects the farm price of rapeseed/mustard seed and thus decreases the earning potential of rapeseed/mustard seed farmers. Further, the Agri Export Policy, 2018 aims to remove all the earlier export restrictions on all the agri products.
In view of all the above, we have requested the ministry of commerce to issue a notification permitting exports of rapeseed/mustard oil in bulk without any restrictions on the pack size. This will greatly benefit the farmers, who would be harvesting the crop in the next two months.
Edible Oils – Myths and Facts
Once again, there was a spurt of misleading messages doing the rounds on social media on refined edible oil. To counter these, SEA, in association with Indian Consumer Federation (ICF) South Zone, organised a seminar-cum-press conference titled Edible Oils – Myths and Facts in Hyderabad recently, inviting consumer activists and mediapersons.
R B N Prasad, chairperson, scientific panel on oils and fats, FSSAI; Kalpagam Polasa, former director, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Halde and B V Mehta, executive director, SEA, appraised the consumer activists and press on the different aspects about importance of edible oils in the diet as well as the safety of refined oils and the logic of importing oils and its pricing.
Forthcoming events
February 5 and 6, 2019: Globoil Delhi 2019, Gurugram
February 22 and 23, 2019: Global Castor Conference 2019, Ahmedabad
March 23 and 24, 2019: Second Cottonseed Oil and Meal Conclave, Hyderabad
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