New Delhi: India has restricted the imports of refined palm oil and refined palmolein in a move that will limit these products coming from Malaysia, the largest exporter.

The commerce and industry ministry on Wednesday amended the import policy for refined refined palm oil imports denounced Citizenship (Amendment) Act check imports from Malaysia told to reduce dependence on imports palm oil and refined palmolein moving the commodity from ‘free’ to ‘restricted’ list, which means importers will need licence from the government for all inbound shipments. “We put controls on imports basis domestic demand. Such restrictions have been imposed earlier as well,” said an official aware of the details.

However, sources said that the move is in retaliation to Malaysia’s criticising abrogation of J&K's special status and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Importers were told to reduce their dependence on Malaysian palm oil imports in a meeting with top government officials a few days ago, sources said. India imported $1.3 billion of refined palm oil and its fractions in the April-November period of which round $988 million came from Malaysia. Indonesia and Nepal are the other two sources of refined palm oil for India. In 2018-19, Indonesia was the biggest supplier of the commodity at $1 billion while Malaysia exported $438.56 million of refined palm oil.

“Malaysia is the target of this move and it will not be questioned as it is compliant with the World Trade Organization norms. However, Nepal is not very happy with the decision,” said an industry representative.

WHAT THIS MEANS

Indonesia, 2nd largest exporter, set to benefit