DUTCH CONSUMERS/INDUSTRY SEE VEG OILS TAX THREAT
Dutch consumers and food processors
would be hit hard by the proposed EC tax on oils and fats, Dick
de Bruyn, chairman of the commodity board for margarine, fats
and oils, MVO, said at the annual meeting.
    The Dutch are the second largest consumers of margarine and
fourth largest consumers of vegetable oils in the EC.
    The fiercely contested tax would be a levy on consumers and
steeply increase the costs of industries such as potato
processing and cake and biscuit manufacturing, de Bruyn said.
    "A move by these industries to countries outside the EC
cannot be ruled out," he added.
    De Bruyn said the tax on vegetable and marine oils and fats
would be wide open to fraud, difficult to police, and hugely
expensive administratively.
    He also said the proposed tax contravened not only article
three of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the
Lome Convention, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) guidelines, but also the EC's own Treaty.
    The proposed tax would not only be inflationary but also
have consequences for employment and investment, he added.
 Reuter
