As India's 2010 pact with Malaysia and Indonesia came to an end, trade body SEA on Monday said the government should hike customs duty on soya, sunflower and crude palm oils and encourage domestic production.
The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) also urged the government to ban the import of refined palm oils or palmolien in order to encourage domestic production.
These are some of the short-term measures the trade body has submitted to the government for making India self-sufficient in edible oils.
"...No nation can afford to compromise its edible oil security to the extent of almost 70 per cent of its annual consumption. This situation calls for corrective actions to be taken up on priority," SEA President Atul Chaturvedi said in a statement.
Low import duties on edible oils over the years has practically made our farmers lose interest in oilseed cultivation. No wonder India's oilseed production has remained stagnant but consumption of edible oils driven by improved affluence has skyrocketed and has been growing at the rate of 3 to 4 per cent per annum, he said, adding that however in the last few years, an attempt has been made to correct this anomaly.
However, the agreements which India had signed with Indonesia and Malaysia way back in 2010 is not allowing India to raise duties. "Good news is that the period of the agreements have now come to an end and India is free to raise duties," he said.
SEA has suggested the government to increase import duties on soya and sunflower oils to 45 per cent from the current 37.5 per cent, while crude palm oils to 50 per cent. Besides, import of refined palm oil or palmolien should be totally banned.
Chaturvedi said, "We feel the above measures would help raise local oilseed prices which in turn would enthuse our oilseed farmers besides increasing revenue for the government."