Gerindra Urges Trade Minister To Issue CPO Export Ban Regulations

JAKARTA - The Gerindra Party urges the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) to immediately issue a regulation prohibiting the export of basic cooking oil ingredients as a solution to overcome the current price increase.

Chairman of the Gerindra Faction DPR RI Ahmad Muzani, said Indonesia as the largest producer of crude palm oil (CPO) in the world must prioritize the availability of domestic palm oil supplies (domestic market obligation). This is in line with the provisions of Article 33 paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution which reads; The earth and water and the natural resources contained therein are controlled by the state and used for the greatest prosperity of the people.

"To suppress the price of cooking oil in the market is to temporarily ban the export of CPO abroad," said Chairman of the Gerindra Faction at the DPR Ahmad Muzani in his statement, Friday, March 18. According to him, the state must dare to take a firm stance to determine the market mechanism. It is known, recently that the Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi actually revoked the Minister of Trade Regulation No. 6 of 2022 regarding the highest retail price (HET) for palm cooking oil. In the previous regulation, the government set the HET for bulk cooking oil at IDR 11,500 per liter, simple packaging at IDR 13,500 per liter, and premium packaging at IDR 14,000 per liter. per liter and the price of premium packaging is left to the market mechanism. "The state must be brave and determine the market mechanism related to cooking oil, so that these entrepreneurs no longer play for profit in the midst of community difficulties," said Muzani.

Muzani assessed that the current cooking oil case is the same as the coal crisis that Indonesia faced some time ago. He said the government could immediately resolve the crisis by banning coal exports, as well as evaluating coal producing companies to prioritize domestic coal supply.

"If the Ministry of Trade had done the same thing, namely issuing a regulation banning the export of cooking oil, surely this cooking oil problem would have been resolved long ago. And the public would not have trouble queuing to get cooking oil," concluded Muzani.