Concerns raised over vegetable oil imports via Bangladesh

High-transfat refined vegetable oils being imported “unchecked” through the land border with Bangladesh is seen creating health hazards in India and posing potential loss to domestic refiners, according to a report in the Hindu Business Line newspaper.

According to an estimate by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), every day, about 800-1,000 tonnes of RBD palmolein and refined soyabean oils are imported from Bangladesh in tanker lorries and in packaged form through the land borders of West Bengal and Assam.

“This cargo is being released by Customs on the basis of bond on the same day of arrival without being tested by the Port Health Officer (PHO). Edible oil tankers from Bangladesh are having high transfat of 4 to 5 per cent and being used for adulteration in the local markets. There are no checks on selling and marketing such imported refined oils in India and they could be hazardous to health too,” Mr. Atul Chaturvedi, President, SEA, stated in a letter to the secretaries of the Central Departments of Revenue, Commerce and Food and Public Distribution.

SEA has appealed to the government to check and regulate such imports from Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries under SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) by road.

Districts with land borders on the opposite side from where the imports enter India include 24 Parganas, Mundu-Myanmar, Jalpaiguri, Maldaha, West Dinajpur, Nadia, Gaur, Shillong and Agartala, among others. Earlier, the trade body had raised an alarm on duty-free import of vegetable oils through SAARC nations. This was at a time when the government had imposed heavy duties on imported edible oils to protect the interests of local refiners and farmers. The importers exploited the SAFTA agreement, which allows duty-free imports of goods from the signatory countries on two grounds – either the commodity is native to the country or has 30 per cent value-addition.