Coconut growers concerned about palm oil imports
The recent seizure by Customs of a palm oil consignment over tax issues has triggered concerns among coconut growers in Sri Lanka that palm oil imports are seriously affecting the coconut industry and its pricing mechanism. This week some officials of the Coconut Growers Association of Sri Lanka (CGASL) were busy in obtaining more details of this case and to explore the possibility of getting involved in the connected court case as an ‘interested party’. Last week the Sunday Times reported that Customs had launched an investigation into the import of 24 containers of crude palm oil on suspicion of trying to evade taxes, but the importer has challenged the detention in courts. A senior Customs official had said this particular stock of crude oil was only suitable for industrial purposes and not for human consumption.
Customs investigations had revealed that the businessman in question had allegedly imported about 20,000 metric tonnes of crude palm oil in 900 containers from 2012. And this particular stock imported from Malaysia between March 29 and April 7, had been refined at the importer’s mill in Colombo and sold to wholesale coconut oil sellers in Colombo and other areas in the country. They also found there was no brand name for these products. A CGASL spokesman told the Business Times (BT) that since various expansion programmes launched by the government about 15 years ago, coconut production in the country has drastically improved and 2015 crop was a record crop. But he noted that though there were record increases in the crop neither the grower nor the consumer has benefited. The spokesman indicated that the wholesale price of a coconut in Colombo auctions has been around Rs. 22 while the retail price is still maintained at around Rs 45 to 50.