Traders protest price standard policy

September 15, 2016, 06.23 PM  | Reporter: Asep Munazat Zatnika, Handoyo
Traders protest price standard policy


JAKARTA. In order to stabilize food price, government has just recently issued Trade Minister Regulation (Permendag) No 63 /2016 on food price standard. However, some traders claimed that the policy will not be effective in stabilizing the price if government does not involve stakeholders that directly involve in food commodities trade, like farmer and trader.

General Chairman of Association of Indonesian Market Traders (Ikappi) Abdullah Mansuri said that policy on the standard of food commodities prices will harm the traders, on the grounds that the traders will be forced to sale the commodities at pegged prices. 

According to Abdullah, the traders will face difficulties in selling the food commodities at pegged prices due to long market chain. In addition to the market situation, the traders have to anticipate other risks, such as risk of decay and shrinkage. Furthermore, government will not allow the traders to do their business if they fail to follow the policy. “We protest that kind of policy”, Abdullah said on Wednesday (14/9).

Abdullah added that the involvement of State Logistics Agency (Bulog) in conducting market intervention will be ineffective, because Bulog also involves the third party in doing the assignment.

General Secretary of Trade Ministry Srie Agustina said that Trade Minister is in charge to set  a certain policy in order to ensure the supply and stabilize the price of staple foods. The policy includes regulations on floor price, ceiling price (enforced through market operations), and specific prices during special occasions. 

Previously, Director General of Domestic Trade at Trade Ministry Oke Nurwan claimed that  the formulation of the price standards referred to the structure of production cost and normal profit margin gained by producer. (Translator: Muhammad Farid)

 

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