THE Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry is investigating a local company believed to be involved in a meat cartel scandal under two trade description offences.

Its minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said the company was being investigated under Paragraph 8 of the Trade Description (Certification and Marking of Halal) Order 2011 and Section 5 of the Trade Description Act 2011.

“We are also working with other ministries and agencies investigating this case as well.

“The ministry is focusing on the misuse of trademark or business logo,” he told a press conferece after launching the Back-to-School sales programme in Putrajaya today.

On December 1, a frozen meat company warehouse in the Senai Industrial Park, Johor Baru, Johor was raided by authorities based on intelligence from Malaysian Quarantine and Inspections Services for suspected involvement in the smuggling of frozen meat.

The cartel is believed to have smuggled frozen meat from China, Ukraine, Brazil and Argentina before repackaging them using the halal logo at a warehouse in Senai, Johor.

The Johor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has since opened an investigation paper under Sections 16 and 18 of the MACC Act 2009. – Bernama, December 23, 2020.