KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- A study on the country’s rice and padi industry conducted by the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) found no elements that contravene existing competition laws, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
However, Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the general study would not be tabled in Parliament.
“If any Honourable Members require a special briefing on this report during this parliamentary session, we will arrange a dedicated briefing,” he said when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address on behalf of his ministry.
Earlier, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu stated that the findings of the study were presented to the Cabinet Committee on National Food Security Policy (JKKMN) on Dec 17, 2024, and any public disclosure would be subject to MyCC’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Armizan said the ministry had implemented and was continuing to carry out seven improvements to the Cooking Oil Stabilisation Scheme (COSS) mechanism.
"Among them is the mandatory use of the Cooking Oil Stabilisation Scheme System (ECOSS) throughout the subsidised packet cooking oil supply chain, covering refineries, packaging companies, wholesalers and retailers. This is to record every distribution and sales transaction," he said.
He said the ministry was also conducting inspections and audits on all packaging companies to ensure compliance with regulations.
Armizan said that following audits conducted in 2024, quotas for 16 packaging companies had been suspended, while 30 companies had their quotas revoked entirely for breaching COSS quota holder conditions.
Additionally, the ministry has introduced a zoning mechanism to organise distribution areas based on state and district needs, with a pilot programme already implemented in Sabah and Sarawak.
"For Peninsular Malaysia, it (zoning mechanism) will begin this year," he said.
-- BERNAMA
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