Accra, June 13, GNA - Parliament on Friday amended and passed the Customs and Excise (Duties and other Taxes) (Amendment) bill for the second time to remove the import duty on the crude form of vegetable oil, a raw material used for the production of cooking oils and soaps. This is to reduce the cost of locally manufactured vegetable oil products which would then translate into the reduction in prices of the end products.

President John Kufuor recently announced measures, including the removal of import duties on some food items to cushion Ghanaians against rising global food and fuel prices.

Parliament then passed the Customs and Excise (Duties and other Taxes) (Amendment) bill, 2008, on May 23, by zero-rating import duties on rice, wheat, vegetable oil and yellow maize and subsequently presented it to President John Kufuor for assent.

The President, however, signified to the House that he was unable to give his assent to the bill because there was the need for further amendment to makes some further changes by removing import duties on crude vegetable oil and not on refined vegetable oil. The bill was therefore returned to the House for the necessary amendment.

For a person to benefit from this zero duty rate, that person must be a recognised manufacturer or must possess refinery facilities for soap or food processing.