PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia imports onions from various countries and does not rely on a single source to ensure adequate supply in the local market, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.
“If a source country faces natural disasters such as drought, floods and earthquake or imposes economic sanctions, Malaysia will not be affected. There will be no disruption to supply even if there is a slight impact on prices, ” he said.
Malaysia imports onions from 29 countries, with five big exporters being India (36%); Pakistan (23%), China (19%), the Netherlands (9%) and Thailand (7%), he added.
Import of onions from India stands at 149,539,411kg of the total import. The large amount is based on the choice and preference of Malaysians, he said.
Malaysia imports eight types of onions – the small red onion (India), big onion (India), red onion (China) and small red onion (China).
Others are the small red rose onion, small red onion (Myanmar); small red onion (Thailand) and big yellow onion (Holland).
The ministry would not hesitate to implement the price control scheme as provided under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering (Determination of Maximum Price) (No 2) (Amendment) Order 2020 if the situation is urgent, he added. — Bernama
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