THE standard operating procedures (SOPs) for granting licences to restaurant owners to enable them to buy imported white rice (BPI) at wholesale prices from Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) will be detailed. 

Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu said his ministry via the Padi and Rice Regulation Office would meet stakeholders regarding the SOPs for granting wholesale licences. 

“Restaurant owners will be offered the wholesale price to buy BPI so that they do not focus only on local white rice (BPT) for food sales at restaurants and also as a short-term measure to overcome the lack of BPT in the market,” he said at a press conference after officiating the 25th Malaysian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage Conference today. 

On September 24, his ministry reportedly decided to give wholesale licences to restaurant owners to purchase BPI at a wholesale price of RM3.20 per kg from Bernas. The various associations of restaurant owners would need to submit an application to the ministry to obtain the licences. 

The media had earlier reported that the Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association had asked the government to immediately detail SOPs in connection with wholesale licences that could be given to restaurant owners following difficulties in obtaining BPT that resulted in many being fully reliant on BPI. 

Regarding rice monopolies, Mohamad Sabu said the government needed a solid reason and sufficient time to break the national rice monopoly controlled by Bernas because the government was bound by a 10-year agreement with it. 

“We have discussed this issue (breaking the rice monopoly) before…if we want to break this agreement, we will need time and a strong reason (to do so),” he said. 

“If we want to do an overhaul, there needs to be discussions with the Economy Ministry, Finance Ministry as well as the Prime Minister’s Department because the rice issue involves food and food security that needs to be addressed together. 

“Because of this, breaking any monopoly is something that needs to be taken into account, at the same time the issue of sustainability also (needs to) be taken into account. However, in this very important matter, I am confident that the cabinet can make recommendations or changes from time to time,” he said. 

Commenting on Umno Youth chief Muhamad Akmal Saleh’s suggestion that subsidised local rice should only be sold to Malaysians and not foreigners, Mohamad Sabu said the matter should not become an issue as it involved humanity and welfare issues. 

“We know foreigners come here and we have called them (to work), especially in sectors that need manpower such as plantations, manufacturing as well as being security guards. To me, it is a question of humanity; they need to eat so this consideration is necessary. 

“In this situation, let us not be hasty… if our people are working overseas and they cannot get cheap rice to feed themselves, we will feel it. So, it’s a matter of human rights…I feel we need to allow them (foreigners) to buy rice in Malaysia and this includes local rice. – Bernama, September 26, 2023.