10 Oct 2007
"Asean has asked for further reduction in tariff. They want duties on crude palm oil (CPO) to be brought down to 40% from 45% and on refined palm oil (RPO) to 30% from 52.5%. This is an extra concession. We are evaluating this proposal. We hope to give a respond to them this week," an official said.
Officials of the commerce ministry and the ministry of external affairs are engaged in talks with key Asean negotiators to work out an acceptable agreement before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits
With the FTA aimed at abolishing duties on bulk of the goods over a period of time,
Initially, major exporting countries of palm oil into
Earlier, under pressure from the Asean,
Though 16 agricultural products will be retained in the negative list, tariffs on a total of around 150 items will be brought down to zero by 2018.
Source: Indian express
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