KUALA LUMPUR: The National Subsistence Action Council (NACCOL) special meeting has decided to reduce the maximum retail price for standard chicken by 20 sen from the current ceiling price of RM9.10.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who chaired the meeting today, said apart from chicken prices, the price of chicken eggs will remain the same as stated under the present Malaysian Maximum Family Price Scheme (SHMKM) control list items.
"The implementation of these two prices will be effective from Feb 5 until June 5, 2022," he said.
The government will provide subsidies to ensure that the price of goods can be controlled.
"The subsidy details are being studied by a special team on National Cost of Living led by the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry and several other ministries, representatives of government linked companies (GLCs) and consumer associations until prices stabilise.
"We have also opened the whole chicken importation permit to all Approval Permit (AP) holders to import chicken, as compared to previously when they get could only import pieces such as wings, thighs and so on," he said, adding that hypermarket operators currently could also apply for APs to import chicken.
Ismail Sabri also urged the Malaysian Competition Commission (MYCC) to investigate if there is a cartel involved in a pact to determine the price of chicken and eggs.
He said the implementation of the Malaysian Family Sales Programme (PJKM) involving all 222 parliamentary constituencies nationwide must be revived with cooperation from multiple ministries.
He said this would ensure that Malaysian families were able to get basic goods at cheaper prices.
For this, he added fair price stores should also be revived throughout the country, and agreed that the frequency of farmers 'market or 'pasar tani' should be increased in stages.
"The meeting has also instructed the Finance Ministry to study incentives and taxes affecting the transformation of poultry farms.
"From now, agricultural industry cooperatives will be involved directly in basic goods management. There are no more middlemen to control goods prices," he added in a statement.
Ismail Sabri said apart from the short-term solutions mentioned above, the meeting discussed long-term measures such as support for research carried out by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) to make oil palm fillet in place of corn and soy as chicken feed and to propose to state governments to extend the period of land use under temporary occupation licence (TOL) for agricultural activities.
"We also discussed food security issues on whether it's sufficient, and how to make sure Malaysian families can afford to buy them. This long-term action plan will be discussed in detail at the next NACCOL meeting," he said.