PM to expose rice and paddy cartel soon, says Fuziah

 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will expose the rice and paddy cartel which has been profiting from people’s misery while monopolising the food item, according to Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh.

She said the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) had completed a report on the matter but could not reveal it for now.

“The report has been completed and I have studied it. However, I cannot reveal its contents.

“I cannot supersede the premier. Let the prime minister reveal the details of the report,” Utusan Malaysia reported her as saying.

On Nov 6, Fuziah told the Dewan Rakyat that the report included factors such as examining potential abuses of dominant positions by companies controlling seed supply, imports, and other areas.

She said this in response to queries from Shahidan Kasim (PN-Arau), who asked about the ministry’s efforts to control rice prices and proposals to increase the paddy purchase floor price, currently set at RM1,300 per tonne.

To Shahidan’s original question on the government’s efforts to tackle cartels and monopolies influencing prices, Fuziah explained that MyCC plays a role in investigating and taking action against any cartel and monopoly activities along the supply chain.

“A cartel occurs when several companies collude to control prices, such as in animal feed, and if they agree along the supply chain, food prices will increase.

“A monopoly, on the other hand, happens when a company abuses its dominant position by imposing different conditions to gain profit… in such cases, MyCC conducts investigations and takes action if there is cartel or monopoly activity,” she added.

On Jan 11, Utusan Malaysia reported Gabungan Pengilang-Pengilang Beras Malaysia alleging the existence of a cartel in the nation’s rice and paddy industry, which had packaged local rice as imported ones to be sold for higher prices.

“The cartel is taking consumers for a ride and has effectively rendered the authorities unable to differentiate which is local rice and which imported ones,” its chairperson Marzukhi Othman was reported as saying. - Mkini