KUALA LUMPUR: The government's decision to do away with the approved permit (AP) to import food items with immediate effect on May 18 is the right step to stabilise food prices, says Universiti Putra Malaysia's Faculty of Agriculture Prof Datuk Dr Mad Nasir Shamsudin.
He said the world was currently experiencing a food price crisis with rising costs of supplies including feed for livestock.
He said that based on information from industry players, the measures taken by the government had begun to show a positive effect as food prices in the market saw a dip.
"The government has two policy options, namely to take care of producers or take care of consumer welfare.
"For the abolition of the AP, prices will go down, this means that the government is looking after the welfare of consumers, apart from managing the country's inflation rate," he said while appearing as a guest on Bernama TV's Ruang Bicara programme last night, which also featured Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad managing director Datuk Dr Ameer Ali Mydin.
Ameer Ali, who is also Bumiputera Retailers' Association president described the repeal of the AP as a bold move by the government which provided relief, especially to traders and consumers to get food supplies at reasonable market prices.
"Right now for the AP, we focus very closely on chicken, but cabbage has now also dropped in price because there is no AP. We have dropped the price (of cabbage) by more than 40 sen. Due to the (implementation of) AP (prior to this), we had to pay (an extra of) about 30 to 40 sen.
"(So) the repeal of the AP has really helped the people to get a fair and competitive price," he said.
On May 18, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the Cabinet had agreed not to impose APs to import food items with immediate effect to ensure the country had an adequate food supply.
However, Mad Nasir was of the view that doing away with the AP completely was not very suitable in the long run, as he was worried that it would affect the country's food self-sufficiency level (SSL) and stray from the strategic plan on promoting local food production.
He said since the SSL for basic food in the country was low, it was important for the country to protect its food production industry and re-establish the AP when the situation recovered in the future to maintain the country's food security.
"We need to understand, that the AP aims to ensure that certain quotas for food imports are set to boost the country's agricultural production and help local farmers," he said.
Based on the National Agro-Food Policy 2021-2030, SSL is defined as an indicator measuring a country's ability to meet food needs from its own domestic production.
Mad Nasir also suggested that all state governments create more agricultural land with the help of the Federal government to provide incentives based on yields, besides inviting more young people to be involved as agricultural entrepreneurs.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Tue May 31 2022
Dr Mad Nasir said that based on information from industry players, the measures taken by the government had begun to show a positive effect as food prices in the market saw a dip. - Astro AWANI\Hamzah Hamid
Pelajar tahfiz perlu teroka bidang teknologi
Kira-kira 200,000 pelajar tahfiz di negara ini, perlu dipastikan untuk mempunyai kemampuan dan peluang menjadi tenaga penggerak kepada umat Islam Malaysia dalam meneroka bidang yang dahulu dilihat sebagai asing., tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Perpaduan rakyat prasyarat ekonomi mampan
Tidak semua negara Islam mempunyai ruang dan kesempatan untuk terus aman dan damai, dan mempunyai peluang untuk menikmati ekonomi yang kukuh dan berkembang seperti Malaysia, tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Tidak perlu tergesa-gesa tukar ke lesen B - JPJ
Pemegang Lesen Memandu Malaysia (LMM) Kelas B2 dan B1 tidak perlu tergesa-gesa mendaftar Program Khas Peralihan LLM Kelas B2/B1 Kepada LMM Kelas B kerana tiada had masa ditetapkan untuk permohonan.
KPWKM teruskan lapan inisiatif bantu warga emas
Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat (KPWKM) akan terus menggerakkan lapan inisiatif utama dalam memenuhi keperluan jagaan dan sistem sokongan terhadap warga emas.
Warga emas maut ditikam anak kandung yang berhalusinasi
Seorang pesara guru maut ditikam anak kandungnya sendiri di sebuah rumah dekat Kampung Senaling, di sini, petang Sabtu.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Sabtu, 5 Oktober 2024.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Hezbollah lancar serangan peluru berpandu ke atas kompleks industri ketenteraan di utara Israel
Pergerakan Hezbollah di Lubnan berkata mereka telah melancarkan serangan peluru berpandu ke atas kemudahan ATA Defence Industries.
Tiada kaitan dengan pelantikan CEO MDEC, Anuar Fariz bukan adik saya - Fahmi
Menteri Komunikasi Fahmi Fadzil menyangkal dakwaan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) baharu Perbadanan Ekonomi Digital Malaysia (MDEC) Anuar Fariz Fadzil merupakan adiknya.
Israel lakukan persiapan untuk serang Iran - Laporan
Tentera Israel sedang bersiap untuk "tindakan balas besar-besaran dan ekstrem" terhadap Iran.
Kerajaan teliti cadangan mansuh AP - Saifuddin
Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna sedang meneliti cadangan sesetengah pihak yang mencadangkan agar Permit Import dimansuhkan bagi membolehkan harga barangan diturunkan.