'Use Emergency Ordinance to haul up major chicken suppliers'

The_King · May 30, 2022

KUALA LUMPUR: The government should take a drastic step and consider using the Emergency Ordinance against chicken suppliers who are allegedly restricting their production capacity.

Bumiputera Retailers Association president Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin said the government should call up the five to six major chicken suppliers nationwide allegedly behind the domestic livestock shortage to give an explanation.

"The authorities should call up these major suppliers and those in cahoots with them to the table and issue them with an ultimatum to restore chicken supplies in the next two months," he told the New Straits Times.

Ameer said if the breeders failed to increase their production within the stipulated time frame, their operating licences and permits should be revoked and suspended. He said these "bigwigs" should be blacklisted from doing business if need be.

He was drawing on the statements issued by the Federation of Malaysian Breeders Associations last week that hot weather allegedly had stunted the development of birds. This heralded last weekend's supply disruption.

The statement followed a report quoting industry sources as saying that breeders were planning a "weekend-boycott" after four companies issued a circular to parties concerned to suspend operations over the government's delay in providing a 60 sen subsidy for farmers per kilogramme of chicken produced.

However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob revealed that several major companies did not even apply for the subsidy.

Ameer said the masterminds of the crisis were silent, but wielded their powers over the small breeders.

"Consumers and retailers like me, who are only getting a third of the supply ordered from them, are at their mercy."

He also urged the government to lift the ceiling price on chicken to enable healthy competition and for prices to stabilise sooner.

Ameer said chicken importers were also standing in line with Saudi Arabia for chicken produced in Thailand. With the birds from the source country costing RM9.50 to RM9.90 per kg, he said Malaysian suppliers would not be able to compete with richer importers if prices were increased.

He said the control prices of standard and dressed chicken, which were RM8.90 and RM9.90, respectively, were a major hurdle. He said prices were expected to fluctuate in the next two months.

"There are no winners in this price war, but the government should focus on short, medium and long term plans to address the issue of inflation."

He was, however, heartened by the prime minister's announcement that the Malaysia Competition Commission (MYCC) would be investigating the allegations on the operations of a chicken cartel and that the probe would be completed by June.

He also lauded the removal of approved permits (AP) for import of foodstuff.

However, he said, since it was enforced in the midst of the crisis, it would take time for importers to source for viable chicken supplies and establish their trade in the market.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) chief executive officer T. Saravanan said MYCC should start its investigation into cartels and price manipulation soon.

"The report should be shared on a public domain with the names of those behind the cartels, even if they are high-profile figures."

Allegations on food cartels and price manipulations have existed since 2019 based on news reports and MYCC statements.

Some former food import AP holders have also been allegedly linked to these cartels.

Saravanan said the crisis Malaysia was facing was 10 to 15 years in the making and that it would take the country another decade of carefully charted food security policies to mitigate it.

He urged the government to abstain from price controls and export bans for goods other than chicken to allow small-scale farmers to recover from the crisis.

"For now, the best we can do is manage our consumption by eating less, especially chicken."

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/05/800590/use-emergency-ordinance-haul-major-chicken-suppliers