InfoSAWIT, MUMBAI – Economic research institution, Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) released a report per 1 January 2024. It emphasized that India should remain highly import duty on agricultural commodities, such as, rice, to maintain self-sufficiency, and confirm food security in the country. According to the report, this would minimize its dependence on vegetable oil imports and improve the public health.
As the biggest vegetable oil importer in the world, India is hoped to get leap of imports that could reach US$ 20,8 billion in 2023-24, escalate twice from US$ 10,8 billion in 2017-18. GTRI also mentioned that it needs to educate the consumers about the health advantages from using local oil, such as, mustard, nuts, and rice brand.
As InfoSAWIT quoted from The Hindu, GTRI also reported that the advance countries, such as, USA and European Union, supported India’s agricultural sectors and delivered big subsidy to encourage exports. Though the pressure from developed countries to open agricultural sectors on imports, India maintains highly import duty up to 30 - 100% for sensitive goods (commodities).
Ajay Srivastava, one founder of GTRI emphasized that the approach that gets highly import duty on sensitive commodities and rejects agricultural sectors on subsidized imports within low tariff would be very significant to get self-sufficiency in India and guarantee food security for the increasing population.
According to United Nations, clean imports for cereal by developing countries could be increasing three times in the next 30 years. India with its focus on policies, such as, green and white revolution, high import duty, and active negotiation in the World Trade Organization successfully reached self-sufficiency on almost food and agricultural products.
For vegetable oil, such as, beans, dry and fresh fruits, contributed 72,1% of agricultural imports in 2023 in the country. Vegetable oil is the biggest import substitution, contributed 51,9% of agricultural imports in the country.
It imported four kinds of oil, they were crude palm oil (CPO), crude soyoil, crude sunflower oil, and palm olein refined bleached deodorized (RBD).
The report also noted that the 2023 imports decreased 18,6% to be US$ 17,1 billion than those in 2022, particularly for the decreasing import price, not the quantity. (T2)
