Trade Minister Lutfi Cannot Fight Cooking Oil And Other Food Mafia, Member Of Commission VI Proposes Revision Of Trade Law

Minister of Trade, M. Lutfi. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VI DPR Achmad Baidowi proposed that Law Number 7 of 2014 concerning Trade be revised. This is in response to the statement of the Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi who admitted that he could not eradicate it because it was hindered by regulations.

Baidowi assessed that Law Number 7 of 2014 concerning Trade did not give the Ministry of Trade the freedom to take action against the food mafia.

"Our proposal is to revise the Trade Law to give the Ministry of Trade more flexibility and role when it comes to trade and commerce," he told reporters, Friday, March 18.

This PPP politician is of the opinion that the revision of the Trade Law can strengthen the authority of the Ministry of Trade in arresting food mafias in the country. Furthermore, Baidowi said that the strengthening of authority was also intended so that the government would no longer make excuses for the existence of an insurmountable food mafia.

"We can make it an initiative proposal from the government or the DPR to revise the Law. So that regulations are no longer used as an excuse for not being able to work optimally in taking action against the existing cartels," he said.

Previously, the Minister of Trade (Mendag) Muhammad Lutfi revealed, there are mafias and parties who seek profit in the narrowness behind the scarcity and high cost of cooking oil. However, he admitted that he did not have the authority to take action against the parties involved.

The reason, said Lutfi, is that this issue is outside the authority of the Ministry of Trade. Because, hindered by regulations or rules. He explained that Law Number 7 of 2014 concerning Trade and Law Number 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection were not strong enough to eradicate these mafias.

"I said that I couldn't arrest these people based on what I had. So if I had to make this policy, I would have to deal with naughty criminals. That is outside the authority of the Ministry of Trade," he said in a Working Meeting with Commission VI DPR, quoted Friday, 18 March.

The Ministry of Trade, said Lutfi, admitted that he could not work alone against the mafia and speculators. Therefore, his party has provided the data to the National Police and the Food Task Force.

For this, Lutfi apologized because the Ministry of Trade could not eradicate the cooking oil mafia. However, this will certainly be used as a lesson.

"This is a lesson we can learn here is when the price difference against the market is that high. With an apology, the Ministry of Commerce cannot control it. Because this is human nature, which is greedy and evil," he concluded.