Customs duty on liquor not to be cut

new delhi: rejecting the domestic industry’s demand for imposition of higher customs duties on imported liquor, the government has indicated that spurt in import could be countered with safeguard duties or anti-dumping levies. this was conveyed to a delegation of alcohol industry representatives when they met finance ministry officials recently. since safeguard duties and anti-dumping levies are meant for all imports, it seems the finance ministry is not willing to treat liquor differently. the main grudge of the domestic industry was against lowering of cvd on imported liquor rather than the basic customs duty. in the budget, the government reduced the basic duty to 182 per cent and the domestic industry is not objecting to it since international commitments are involved. the reduction was in line with the duty bindings submitted by the government under wto agreements. more than other items, the domestic industry is worried about the fate of its market share in whisky which faces still challenge from cheaper scotch varieties. along with cut in the basic duty, the cvd on imported alcoholic beverages was reduced to 75 per cent for liquor priced up to $25 per case and 50 per cent in the case of cheaper varieties. as compared to this, the previous levels of customs duty stood at 150 per cent, 100 per cent and 75 per cent. the effective reduction in the additional duty works out to 124 per cent to 293 per cent, according to the domestic industry, depending on the price of imports.