Supporting Ban On Exports Of Cooking Oil And Its Derivatives, BPKN: Hopefully Domestic Supply Is Abundant And Prices Return To Normal

Head of BPKN Rizal Halim. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) Rizal Halim fully supports President Joko Widodo's policy of deciding to temporarily halt exports of cooking oil and its raw materials starting April 28, 2022.

"The president's decision is eagerly awaited by most of the Indonesian people, who in the past 5-6 months have faced uncontrollable cooking oil prices," Rizal said, quoted by Antara, Sunday, April 24.

He emphasized that the export ban is a signal to the market not to play games or take advantage of opportunities and sacrifice most people.

Rizal hopes that this policy will have an impact on abundant domestic supply and prices will move towards normal. "The condition is that the production and distribution side also needs to be monitored by the government so that there are no leaks, including smuggling," said Rizal.

In addition to cooking oil, several commodities also need intervention, such as meat, chili, chicken eggs, the prices of which are currently moving up. This increase is also due to inadequate supply or it is suspected that supplies are being held back to the public to push prices up.

For that, said Rizal, BPKN asked the food task force to immediately conduct an investigation and enforce the law if this is obtained by evidence in the field. "The state must not lose to the mafia. The state must be able to realize food sovereignty according to President Jokowi's ideals," Rizal added.