Ministry Of Trade Opens Voice Of Urgency Issues Cooking Oil Rules

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) has issued Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 18 of 2024 concerning Packaged Palm Oil and People's Cooking Oil Governance.

The Director General of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) Moga Simatupang explained the urgency of issuing this regulation, the first to adjust the domestic price obligation (DPO) and the highest retail price (HET), which is one of the efforts to encourage the realization of domestic market obligation (DMO).

"Because the export market for palm oil derivative products has decreased and adjusted the price of CPO which has increased compared to before," he explained at a press conference, Monday, August 19.

Moga conveyed that the next urgency with the issuance of Permendag 18/2024 is expected to encourage people to use packaged cooking oil in addition to bulk cooking oil.

"This considers packaged cooking oil to be more guaranteed quality, nutritional content, safety, and halal compared to bulk cooking oil. Packaged cooking oil is also easier to distribute, minimal product loss, contamination-free, and can be stored for a relatively long time," he said.

Moga added that it is hoped that it will optimize the distribution of people's cooking oil (MGR) to ensure that it is right on target, reduce potential abuse, or misappropriation by parties that can harm the community, as well as achieve selling prices at each level of distribution and highest retail price.

"Fourth, the simplification of cooking oil regulations in one regulation to provide legal certainty for business continuity and become a guide for monitoring the circulation of people's cooking oil in the field," he said.

As for the Minister of Trade Regulation Number 18 of 2024, Moga hopes that producers, packers, distributors, and retailers of cooking oil and exporters of palm oil derivative products can understand and implement the provisions in Permendag number 18 of 2004 since it was promulgated, namely on August 14 in 2024 and included in State Sheet number 482 on August 18 in 2024.