India rules out duty-cut for rubber imports.

In a major development in the domestic rubber industry, the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry today informed that there would not be any cut in the import duty of natural rubber imports, as had been demanded by the rubber consumer lobby.

The Rubber Board Chairman, Sajen Peter maintained that the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Anand Sharma has ruled out any cut in the import duty of rubber from the present 20%.

The minister has given this assurance to a team of MPs from Kerala, who visited him this morning. He also said that, in the case of import duty, the government would be implementing the recommendation of the expert panel constituted under the directive of Delhi High Court to look into the demands raised in a petition by rubber consuming organizations, Peter informed in a statement issued today.

The rubber users had been demanding import duty relaxation in the wake of stiff supply constraints in the domestic markets. This led to an exorbitant price rise in natural rubber in a short span of time.

The expert panel had recommended that the import duty be retained at 20%, but a maximum ceiling of Rs.20.46 be fixed, which is based on the average domestic price of rubber for the last three fiscals. The recommendation was made by the expert panel after hearing the views of the organizations and submissions by grower organisations.

This recommendation was welcomed by the Rubber Board in its meeting held on 31 July 2010.

The Union Minister, in a meeting, where Rahul Khullar, Commerce Secretary and Mr. Sajen Peter, Rubber Board Chairman were also present, maintained that import with the duty cap would be allowed only in a phased manner, in lots of 25,000 tonnes.

Source : commodityonline.com