Status Quo On Oil Imports Sought

Oils & Seeds Importers Association of India (Osia) has urged the Union government for a status quo on the edible oil import policy and tariff in the light of lobbying by a section of the oilseeds processing industry against liberal imports of edible oils.

In a memorandum to finance minister, P Chidambaram, the vice-chairman of Osia, N Ramchand has pointed to the critical viewpoints against the import policy by a section of the processing industry.

Osia has drawn the attention of the finance minister to the industrys suggestion to enhance the customs duty on imports of edible oils, stating acceding to it will cause a potentially explosive situation on the edible oil price front.To justify this, Osia has said the demand-supply gap is being bridged through imports.