Exempt domestic oils from storage control order: Edible oil industry

Facing harassment and seizure operations under the Storage Control Order, the edible oil industry has pleaded to the government to exempt domestic edible oils from the purview of stock limit.

Amid the lockdown, the government imposed stock limit on oils under the Storage Control Order, 1977.

The trade body, Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) on Monday wrote to the Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, underlining the challenges faced by the industry because of the said order. “The Storage Control Order exempts imported edible oils while it is applicable for domestic edible oils and is imposed on manufacturers and traders,” SEA highlighted in its letter.

Further, imported crude vegetable oils, when sold in domestic market after refining, are treated as domestic oil by the State Rationing Officers. This leads to imposition of Storage Control Order on these quantities of the edible oils as well, which are originally under imported category and are exempted.

This, according to SEA, “leads to harassment and seizure of oil. We have been making fervent appeal and representations to the government that in current situation Storage Control Order has become irrelevant and lost its utility and are requesting to exempt the domestic edible oils from the purview of stock limit.”