ISLAMABAD, June 16: The government has withdrawn general sales tax (GST) on locally manufactured machinery in the petroleum sector, levied 15 per cent GST on vegetable ghee and cooking oil, and 20 per cent on palm oil in the budget of 2002-03.

Through the finance ordinance 2002-03, the government has also raised the rate of GST from 15 per cent to 20 per cent on import of five raw materials.

The GST raised raw materials included talc, solvent oil (non- composite); calcium carbonate; maleic anhydride and acrylic tops.

The palm oils on which 20 per cent GST was levied included soya bean oil and its fractions, whether or not refined but not chemically modified, other than in retail packing; ground-nut oil and its fractions, whether or not refined but not chemically modified other than in retail packing; palm oil and its fraction whether or not refined but not chemically modified other than in retail packing; sunflower-seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified other than in retail packing; palm kernel or babassu oil and fractions thereof, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified other than in retail packing, rape, colza or mustard oil and fractions, thereof, whether or not refined but not chemically modified other than in retail packing and other fixed vegetable oils (including jojoba oil) and their fractions, whether or not refined but not chemically modified, other than in retail packing; vegetable oil and their fractions partly or wholly hydrogenated, inter-esterified, re-esterified or elaidinized, whether or not refined but not further prepared, other than in retail packing; edible mixtures or preparations of vegetable oils or of fractions of different oils of chapter 15 other than edible oils or their fractions of heading 15, 16 other than in retail packing; vegetable oils and their fractions boiled, oxidized, dehydrated, sulphurized, blown, polymerized by heat in vacuum or in inert gas or otherwise chemically modified excluding those of heading 15, 16 other than in retail price.