Import and consumption of palm oil have been remaining at a high level over the years in the local markets, but most of the consumers are being cheated as they are buying the item in the name of soybean oil. "Specially the retailers are cheating the consumers both in terms of money and quality while they are selling palm edible oil in the name of soybean oil," country manager of the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council of Bangladesh AKM Fakhrul Alam said. He also said 100,000 tonnes of palm oil have been imported in the country while 23,500 tonnes of soybean oil were imported between October 1 and October 22. But, in the local markets no consumers can find out the palm oil as the retailers are selling the item in the name of soybean oil, he said adding that in the wholesale markets palm oil was selling at Tk 38 per litre and soybean oil Tk 48 per litre. Here is the difference, he said. "We are unable to take any punitive action against these dishonest traders, as the matter is the concern of the local country. The government can take action against the traders while we can only make the consumers aware of the issue," Fakhrul said. He further said the demand for bottled edible oil in the country is 15,000 tonnes per year and 97 per cent of the demand is met by soybean oil and three per cent by palm oil. So, the retailers can hardly cheat the consumers in the case of bottled edible oil, but they cheat them easily in the case of loose edible oil, he added. According to the country's import statistics, 539,000 tonnes of palm oil, 114 tonnes of soybean oil and 29,000 tonnes of mustard/ rape oil were imported between January to August of this year in the country . The statistics said, in 2004 the country imported a total of 690,000 tonnes of palm oil, 318,000 tonnes of soybean oil and 63,000 tonnes of mustard/rape oil. The Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council officials expected that the import of such an item in the country might exceed 700,000 tonnes in 2005 as the consumption of the item was registering a steady growth. The consumption of oils and fats witnessed a tremendous increase in last eight years, sources said adding that in 1996, the consumption of total oils and fats in the country was 0.60 million tonnes, which increased to 1.13 million tonnes in 2004. The consumption of palm oil in 2004 increased by 26 per cent compared to that of 2003, sources said. When asked, Fakhrul said the exact figure of the amount of money that is being pocketed by the unscrupulous traders cheating the consumers could not be estimated.
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