RI to lobby India to cut CPO import tariff: Minister<\/p>\n
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono will leave for India
\nthis week to try to convince his Indian counterpart to revoke the
\nlatter's decision to raise crude palm oil (CPO) import duty to 80
\npercent.<\/p>\n
Indonesia would ask India, the country's second largest CPO
\nimporter after China, to maintain the rate of 65 percent, Anton
\nsaid, adding that Indonesia would be ready to offer incentives
\nfor India in return.<\/p>\n
\"We are ready to offer India the opportunity to export sugar
\nto us in return for lowering the import duty,\" Anton told
\nreporters after a meeting with the minister of trade and local
\nassociations.<\/p>\n
Anton said that India had always had great interest in
\nexporting its agricultural products, in particular meat and milk,
\naside from sugar, to Indonesia, although he ruled out the
\npossibility of importing India's meat and milk, as India was not
\nfree of foot and mouth disease.<\/p>\n
\"But we can buy their sugar. We are a very strong buyer,\" he
\nsaid, adding that the meeting would be held on the sidelines of
\nministerial talks, slated for April 17 to April 19 in New Delhi.<\/p>\n
This year, Indonesia has set a quota to import 500,000 tons of
\nsugar, up from last year planned quota of 400,000 tons. However,
\nlast year's actual import only reached 200,000 tons, mostly from
\nThailand.<\/p>\n
G20 is a group of developing nations promoting its interests
\nin agricultural negotiations in the World Trade Organization
\n(WTO).<\/p>\n
The Indian government recently hiked CPO import duty from 65
\nto 80 percent to provide protection to its farmers who make a
\nliving by growing soybean, a major vegetable oil commonly used as
\na substitute to palm oil.<\/p>\n
The move is not against WTO rulings with India having secured
\na commitment allowing it to set a ceiling tariff for certain
\nproducts of up to 300 percent. The commitment allows India to set
\nits CPO import duty anywhere between zero and 300 percent.<\/p>\n
\"Later on, we will also negotiate in the WTO for India to
\nreduce the 300 percent commitment,\" Anton said.<\/p>\n
He said that Indonesia had yet to talk with Malaysia to
\njointly lobby India on the issue, but should the meeting fail to
\ncome up with a productive result, such a possibility would not be
\nruled out.<\/p>\n
After Malaysia, Indonesia is the world's second largest
\nexporter of palm oil -- a raw material for, among other things,
\ncooking oil, soap and detergent.<\/p>\n
Output from the two countries is expected to make up about 85
\npercent of this year's global palm oil production.<\/p>\n
India's decision is feared to hamper Indonesia's target to up
\nits export to India.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki)
\nchairman Derom Bangun said the association expected to increase
\nCPO exports to India to 1.2 million tons this year from last
\nyear's 960,000 tons.<\/p>\n
Indonesia total exports, meanwhile, were projected to reach
\n7.8 million tons, up from last year's estimated 7 million tons.<\/p>\n
China and India are Indonesia's main CPO markets. Indonesia
\nalso exports to Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Netherlands and to new
\nmarkets such as eastern Europe.<\/p>\n
The country is expected to produce 11.6 million tons of palm
\noil this year, compared to last year's estimated 10.8 million
\ntons.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Anton also said that beside crude palm oil import
\nduty, the negotiation would also include Indonesia's request for
\nIndia to ease its health-related export requirements for olein, a
\ncrude palm derivative.<\/p>",
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