Concessional custom duty on Edible Oil imports extended till March 2023 to keep domestic prices under control

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in a notification no. 46/2022-Customs dated 31 August, 2022, has extended existing concessional import duties on specified edible oils up to 31 March 2023. The move is aimed at increasing domestic supply and keeping prices under control.

The concessional customs duty on edible oil import has been extended by another 6 months, which means that the new deadline will now be March 2023. Prices of edible oil have been on declining trend driven by fall in global prices. With falling global rates and lower import duties, retail prices of edible oils have fallen considerably in India.

The current duty structure on crude palm oil, RBD Palmolein, RBD palm oil, crude soybean oil, refined soybean oil, crude sunflower oil and refined sunflower oil remains unchanged till 31 March 2023. The import duty on crude varieties of palm oil, soyabean oil and sunflower oil is currently zero. However, after taking into account 5% agricess and 10% social welfare cess, the effective duty on crude varieties of these three edible oils touches 5.5%.

The basic customs duty on refined varieties of palmolein and refined palm oil is 12.5%, while social welfare cess is 10%. So, the effective duty is 13.75%.For refined soyabean and sunflower oil, the basic customs duty is 17.5% and taking into account 10% social welfare cess, the effective duty comes to 19.25%.