Jakarta, Aug 30 (Antara) - As a staple food of the country, rice is very important for Indonesia, which has a population of over 257 million. Its price stability therefore needs to be maintained.
To maintain price stability, the government has fixed a rice ceiling price (HET). The ceiling is set for medium and premium quality of rice to prevent its price from soaring or being taken advantage of by middlemen or traders who hoard the commodity for excessive gains.
With the HET, traders are not allowed to sell rice higher than the ceiling price. Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the authority would impose sanctions against rice traders who set medium and premium quality rice price higher than its ceiling price.
"There will be monitoring and sanctions and, at least, revocation of the license for those who sell rice above the ceiling price," Kalla stated in Jakarta on Tuesday (Aug 29).
The government has formulated sanctions against traders who violate the regulation while waiting for the imposition of rice ceiling price on Sept 1.
According to Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita, the imposition of ceiling price of rice constitutes the government's real effort to protect the interests of consumers. "The imposition of the ceiling price will benefit the people or the customers as they can get rice at a controlled price. So, price control is effective," said the trade minister at the Presidential Palace Complex on Monday (Aug 28).
The imposition of the HET on rice also allows the realization of equitable development, in a sense that equality in rice business for entrepreneurs can be evenly achieved.
"Data show that the ceiling price imposition benefits smaller rice hullers in terms of increasing supplies," the trade minister said.
On the other hand, the absorption of rice by the state logistics board (Bulog) is also increasing sharply, although there are indeed parties who feel they are disadvantaged by the rice ceiling policy.
"They are middleman, traders, and collectors who sell the commodity at a higher price. So, it is the big price margin that is disturbed by the HET," he said.
Enggartiasto denied the allegations that it is the small-scale rice mills and small entrepreneurs who are being threatened by the HET policy.
"I went to Perpadi Solo and everyone in Sragen appreciated the implementation of the HET because they will receive larger amount of rice supplies. So far, they did not received supplies because supplies were taken by big businesses," he remarked.
Even so, Enggartiasto noted that the imposition of the HET will not affect large-scale companies. Big companies will only need to experience a longer return of investment.
"They will certainly not be affected. Bulog absorption will also increase sharply. It can rise to 10 thousand tons though it had earlier dropped to below 6 thousand tons," he added.
The government has announced the ceiling retail price of medium and premium rice. The ceiling price would be imposed in both traditional and modern markets.
Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said that national rice traders have agreed on the imposition of ceiling price for medium and premium quality rice, which would take effect on Sept 1.
The HET for medium rice was set Rp9.450 per kilogram and premium rice Rp12.800 per kilogram for Java, Lampung, South Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi.
In Sumatra region, apart from South Sumatra and Lampung, East Nusa Tenggara and Kalimantan, the ceiling price for medium quality rice was set at Rp9,950 per kilogram and Rp13.3 thousand per kilogram for premium quality.
For Maluku, including North Maluku and Papua, the ceiling price for medium and premium quality rice was set at Rp10,250 per kilogram and Rp13.6 thousand per kilogram, respectively.
The government has categorized rice into three types, namely first category, which includes medium rice with minimum milling degree of 95 percent, maximum moisture content of 14 percent, and maximum broken rice of 25 percent.
The medium quality rice could be sold in bulk or in packages, but it must enclose the medium label and its ceiling price in the package.
The second category includes premium rice with 95 percent of milling degree, maximum moisture content of 14 percent, and maximum broken rice of 15 percent. Premium quality rice is sold in packages and must enclose the premium label and its ceiling price as well.
Another category is special rice quality that would be managed separately by the Agriculture Ministry. This will include Thai Hom Mali, Japonica, Basmati, sticky rice, organic rice, and GI (geographical indication) certified rice. "For this special rice category, we are yet to set (the ceiling price)," Enggartiasto explained. ***3*** (A014/INE/B003)
EDITED BY INE (T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 30-08-2017 20:27:0 |
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