Farmers won’t be sidelined if rice-import monopoly ends

KUALA LUMPUR: The government gives assurance that local farmers will not be sidelined if the Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) rice-import monopoly terminated, says Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Sim Tze Tzin.

He said the new paddy and rice industry players would be expected to continue to prioritise the supply of rice from local farmers rather than from outside.

“We will give that responsibility to new companies who want to participate because if they want to profit from rice imports, they also need to carry out social responsibility,” he said this in a questionand-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here yesterday.

“We want the companies to earn fair profit for them to carry out their responsibilities, to ensure a healthy industry.

He said this in his reply to a question from Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (BN-Bera) who wanted to know if the termination of rice-import monopoly would affect the farmers who had supplied paddy to Bernas all this while.

On Oct 17, the government announced it was looking at removing 30 per cent of Bernas rice-import monopoly next year to enable other industry players to enter the market before the concession of the company expired in 2021.

He said further studies on the new model to replace Bernas’ rice-import monopoly were currently being discussed by taking into account all aspects including the national food security as well as the welfare of other industry players including farmers, manufacturers and citizens as end users.