HC stays DGFT order banning palm oil import through Cochin Port

Kochi, Nov 7 (UNI) The Kerala High Court has stayed a notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), banning the import of palm oil into the country from the Cochin Port.

Justice S Sirijagan recently stayed the 16 DGFT notification of October 16 on two petitions, filed by Kozhikode-based Parrysons Foods Managing Director N M Mohd Ali and Mumbai-based Liberty Oil Mills, challenging the notification.

The October 16 notification had banned the import of crude palm oil and refined-bleached-deodourised (RBD) oil through Cochin Port.

The order was issued on a recommendation of the Coconut Development Board, in a bid to help coconut growers.

While the Coconut Development Board had recommended that the ban on import of palm oil be imposed on all southern ports, the Central Government had imposed it on Cochin alone.

Meanwhile, sources in the Cochin Port said two tanker vessels carrying 16,000 tonnes of refined and crude palm oil are expected to arrive here in the coming weeks.

UNI