The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry is to meet wholesalers tomorrow on the high price of imported Australian mutton which retails at RM19 per kg, RM2 above the ceiling price.
Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today the ministry might review the ceiling retail price of RM17 in view of the high wholesale price for the product.
“Due to the high wholesale price, retailers are forced to sell imported Australian mutton at RM19 per kg,” he told reporters after a visit to the Sentul market here to ensure that controlled items were being sold at the set prices for Deepavali which falls on Friday.
Ismail Sabri expressed satisfaction with the prices of the 14 other controlled items set for 10 days from today in view of the Deepavali festive season.
These items include chicken, local bone-in mutton, chicken eggs, red chillies, tomatoes, Indian small red onions, imported potatoes and Australian dhall.
“We impose price control during festive seasons because traders are likely to raise prices due to the higher demand then. I believe the demand for dhall will rise (during the Deepavali season), so we impose the price control,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said 1,600 monitoring officers and 2,000 enforcement officers had been deployed to check on the prices of the controlled items nationwide for the 10 days.
He also reminded traders to display the pink tags for the prices of the controlled items to enable consumers differentiate them from the ordinary goods, saying that offenders would be prosecuted.
He advised the people to lodge reports on any misconduct by traders via the hotline 1-800-88-6800 or email [email protected].
— BERNAMA
CJMY
