Malaysia: The effect of the palm oil import tax increase by India is temporary - KPK

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Plantation and Commodities (KPK) is confident that the increase in import tax implemented by India to the price of Malaysian palm oil is temporary. In an oral reply to the Dewan Rakyat session, the ministry said the increase was part of India's efforts to protect local oil prices and support its domestic agricultural industry. "Nevertheless, based on past experience, these tariff changes are usually temporary and their impact on Malaysia's palm oil imports is only short-term. As the world's largest importer of palm oil with a population of 1.45 billion, India will always need palm oil to meet the country's domestic needs ," he said. The KPK said this in response to a question from Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut) who asked for the short, medium and long term strategic measures to deal with the drastic impact on the Malaysian oil palm industry following the 32 percent increase in import tax by India and the cut in the export levy rate. by ...