Minister: Don’t discriminate against palm oil products

KUALA LUMPUR: Stern action will be taken against retailers, distributors and importers if they sell products with labels that discriminate against palm oil products, says Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.

The Plantation and Commodities Minister said under the Trade Descriptions (Prohibition of Use of Statement, Expression or Indication) (Oil Palm Product and Palm Oil Goods) Regulations 2022, offenders can be fined up to RM250,000 if they put any labels that discriminate against palm oil products.

He said enforcement activities will also be boosted to check on such products, and that the matter has been highlighted to the Customs Department.

“We want to show those outside that we are firm on this,” he told a press conference here yesterday, in response to an infringement on the labelling law by a convenience store in Precinct 3 in Putrajaya.

The store was raided by the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry on Thursday for allegedly putting on sale food products with the words “No Palm Oil” (NPO) on the packaging.

Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the raid followed a public complaint received by his ministry, and the raiding team found various ice cream products with discriminatory wording.

“All the ice cream products worth RM897.60 have been confiscated for further investigation,” said Armizan, adding that the related labelling regulations came into force on March 15, 2022.

Asked if supermarkets were still allowed to sell those products, Johari said they are allowed to do so as long as they remove such labels.

“Some of them put a sticker on top of such wording. They might still have some stock, but in the future, we do not want to be like this.

“I want the retailers, distributors and importers to understand our stance, that’s all,” he added.

He also said he welcomed such enforcement activities by Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry and viewed the latest incident as a serious matter.

“Palm oil is an important commodity for us and we are the second largest producer in the world.

“We now have effective enforcement to ensure there is no discrimination against palm oil products,” said Johari.