The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration has reduced value-added tax on the import of seven types of oilseeds and vegetable oils from 9% to 1%.
The new measure applies to soybean, colza, safflower, palm oil, unrefined soybean oil, sunflower oil and colza oil, Fars News Agency reported.
Earlier in 2022, Ali Qasemi, an advisor to the agriculture minister, announced that edible oil imports are entitled to zero percent tariffs.
The announcement was aimed at reducing prices in the domestic market.
“The global markets were hard hit over the past few months, following the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The Iranian government also abolished subsidized imports. As a result, vegetable oil registered a sharp rise in prices. The government has decided to scrap import tariffs on the product to make it more affordable for consumers,” he added.
Latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show the retail prices of vegetable oil increased by 290.9% in the ninth month of the current Iranian year (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) compared with the same month of the previous year, registering the highest year-on-year price rise among 53 food products whose price changes are surveyed by the center in urban areas.
Qasemi noted that although the Agriculture Ministry has been planning self-sufficiency in oilseed production for more than 20 years, 90% of the domestic demand for vegetable oil are currently imported.
Iran’s oilseed production stands at round 430,000 tons per year while annual imports amount to 2.23 million tons, according to the secretary of Iran Vegetable Oil Guild Association.
“There are 25 oil extraction factories and 58 edible oil refineries in the country with nominal capacities of 5.4 million tons and 5.8 million tons respectively,” Amir Houshang Birashk was also quoted as saying by IRNA last year.
“We import soybeans, sunflower seeds, palm and colza. Palm oil accounts for 30% of the country’s vegetable oil consumption. We first imported palm oil from Malaysia in the fiscal 2004-5 with the aim of reducing the amount of trans fat consumption that made up 27% of our vegetable oil products in the past. At present, with the gradual increase in palm oil imports and other measures, the figure has dropped below 2%.”
Birashk noted that around 70% of the edible oil consumed by Iranians is liquid and 30% semi-solid, with 63% of the total production going to households and 37% to businesses and industries.
