A commission order set a tariff of 0.4 euros per kilo of palm oil in containers of up to 20 tonnes. The same tariff will be applied to individual packages of up to 1 kilo.
Currently, palm oil in containers of up to 200 kilos is liable to a tariff of 15 percent of its customs value but no less than 0.12 euros per kilo.
"Most probably the tariff has been raised because the country (Russia) expects a bumper oilseeds crop this year," Irina Kuguchina, an analyst with the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies told Reuters.
In June last year, Russia raised the palm oil tariff for nine months after the Russian Dairy Union, the industry's lobbying group, claimed imports of tropical oils had nearly doubled in the previous five years to over 900,000 tonnes in 2008, damaging the industry.
Normally a tariff is set initially for nine months, after which the commission has to decide whether to extend it.
Unpackaged oil and non-food oil will continue to be imported free of tariff.
The commission's order said the three members of the union should present new proposals on tropical oils tariffs no later than in January 2011. (Reuters)
