Calcutta, June 10 :     Domestic vanaspati makers have reasons to rejoice. It seems they have?without even putting up a fight?won the first round in an ?unequal? battle with Nepalese exporters. It all began when the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) was tipped off that a Nepalese trader had wrongly declared a consignment of animal tallow import as crude palm oil. The trader was importing the product from Malaysia but it was transported via the Calcutta port. The two look alike, and so, it is easy to pull wool over the customs officials? eyes. The DRI was also informed that the animal tallow was being used to make vanaspati. This tip-off also turned out to be true. After a thorough chemical analysis, it was found that a consignment of vanaspati exported from Nepal contained animal fat, DRI sources said. As a result, the customs authority in Calcutta has decided to test samples of each consignment from Nepal. The customs and DRI will also test samples of crude palm oil imported by Nepal, according to highly placed sources in these departments . Use of mutton and beef tallow for vanaspati manufacture is banned in India. Although these animal fats are widely used for non-edible purposes like making soaps, the government did not want to take any chance and banned tallow import altogether. Vanaspati made in Nepal has been flooding the markets in north Bengal, north Bihar, Assam and eastern Uttar Pradesh in recent years. The Nepalese product is priced around Rs 70 less for a 15 kg can than Indian vanaspati. While an Indian manufacturer has to pay 16.75 per cent of import duty and surcharge on palmolein?the main ingredient for making vanaspati?Nepal charges 10 per cent import duty. This duty element is also neutralised as drawback when vanaspati is exported to India. The domestic vanaspati industry had been protesting the unequal competition. According to sources, a number of vanaspati units in the eastern region had to be shut down after the Nepalese competition intensified following the Indo-Nepal trade treaty in 1997. After the DRI move, vanaspati industry representatives have visited these agencies and insisted that tests should be conducted on Nepalese vanaspati to see if it conforms to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.