PADIBERAS Nasional Bhd (Bernas) insists it does not run a monopoly on rice imports but that it is a “gatekeeper”, safeguarding national food security and rice farmers.   

Bernas chief executive officer Ismail Mohamed Yusoff said this amid reports the new Pakatan Harapan government planned to break up the firm’s hold on rice imports.

“We are not a monopoly, we are a player,” he said in Shah Alam today.

He said Bernas’ business mechanism has been in place since 1974.

This mechanism saw to the welfare of rice farmers, he said, who were taken care of as Bernas buys up all the padi in the market, regardless of the quality or quantity of the padi already in the market.

In contrast, private rice mills are more discerning and would reject harvests that don’t meet their standards or are considered impure, he said.

In a presentation to reporters today, Ismail said the company only owned 28 rice mills, compared with 152 privately owned mills nationwide.  

“For more than two decades, Bernas has been responsible for maintaining food security, primarily by safeguarding farmers’ income through ensuring the full take-up of local rice production, and consumer accessibility to rice at stable, affordable prices,” he said.

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub had recently said that the government wanted to end Bernas’ decades-long monopoly of rice imports, open up the market and drive prices down.

https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/53005

Ismail had then said the price of rice would not be reduced by terminating Bernas’ monopoly as the price is already low.

https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/54231

It was later reported that Salahuddin had said the cabinet had formed a task force and three committees to study models to replace Bernas.

https://www.malaymail.com/s/1648466/minister-special-task-force-multiple-committees-to-study-bernas-replacement

Ismail said he had yet to be contacted by the task force or committees.

“Our contract is until 2021. They (the cabinet) have still not engaged with us regarding anything after 2021,” he said. – July 4, 2018.