The Centre government has put ban on the import of palm oil products through any port of Kerala.
Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a notification no.63 (RE-2007)/2004-2009 dated December 24, 2007 in this regard.
It may be recalled that earlier on October 16, import through Kochi was banned and now it is extended through all ports (mainly Kochi and Calicut) in the state of Kerala.
The recent notification issued by the DGFT has modified the import policy to ban shipments coming at ports in Kerala. Accordingly, palm oil and its fractions, whether or not refined but not chemically modified, can be imported into the country subject to condition that import will not permitted through any port in Kerala.
?This type of selective step does not fit in the frame work of free market and merely add to the cost of cooking oil to the consumer and not in public interest,? BV Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors? Association (SEA) said. Kerala imports about 75,000 tonne per annum through its ports.
To protect the interest of coconut growers in the state, the state government had requested the union government to put ban on the import of palm oil through all South Indian ports but the central government was reluctant to allow the state?s demand.
Palm oil products will now flow into the Kerala from adjoining state ports such as Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Mangalore (Karnataka). This will add to the total cost of palm oil products within Kerala and consumer will have to bear the additional burden of transport cost, say Rs 2-3 per kg, he said.
It can be noted here that over 50% of households including all hotels, restaurants and bakeries in the state consume palm oil.