CAIT urges Govt to exempt food items with registered trademark from GST
The Dollar Business Bureau Traders' body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Tuesday urged the Government for exempting branded as well as non-branded food commodities with registered trade mark, from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The traders' body reasoned that the differentiation made by the GST Council for levying 5% tax on branded food items with a registered trademark will promote adulteration and result in lower remunerative prices for farmers even for high quality produce. In a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, CAIT said, “Under the pretext of 'branded' products, these items have been made taxable at 5% which will prove to be detrimental and in contradiction of the intention of the government.” CAIT further said that small firms who are manufacturing food grains, pulses and other ...
Agriculture Ministry seeks duty hike on edible oil imports
Sai Nikesh | The Dollar Business The Union Ministry of Agriculture has proposed an increase in import duty on crude and refined edible oils to protect the domestic industry. The move came after the solvent industry body asked the government to protect farmers' interest and ensure a level-playing field for the domestic oilseed processors. “As a remedy to the current situation and to ensure that the farmer get remunerative price for his produce in ensuing kharif harvesting, we would strongly appeal to the government to immediately increase import duty on crude vegetable oils from 7.5% to 25% and refined vegetable oils from 15% to 45%, an official of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) told The Dollar Business. According to ...
