The Centre has exempted crude soyabean oil and crude sunflower seed oil from customs duty and cess subject to certain conditions. The exemption is effective from Thursday until June 30 this year, said a notification by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. It would apply to both degummed and non-degummed soya bean oil.
However, to avail the exemption, the imported will have to produce a valid Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) authorisation for the fiscal year 2022-23 allotted by Directorate General of Foreign Trade
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India is the world’s largest importer of vegetable oil and is also the second largest consumer of the commodity. It however meets about 60% of its requirements through imports.
Earlier, the government had customs duty and cess on import of 2 million tonne crude soyabean oil and crude sunflower oil to keep domestic prices under control. In recent months inflation in edible oils has been easing. The sub basket of oils and fats were in deflationary territory with prices falling 7.86% in March 2023 from a year ago.