Jakarta – The government through the Ministry of Trade continues to demonstrate its commitment to eradicating fraudulent practices in the distribution of people’s cooking oil, MINYAKITA. Minister of Trade Budi Santoso revealed a new method carried out by one of the packaging companies (repackers), PT Artha Eka Global Asia (AEGA), which was proven to have committed various violations.
In the exposure conducted at PT AEGA, Karawang Regency, West Java, various irregularities were found, such as reducing the packaging size, using commercial cooking oil to be packaged as MINYAKITA, and misuse of the MINYAKITA brand license. Minister of Trade Budi Santoso, who is familiarly called Minister of Trade Busan, said that PT AEGA not only reduced the 1 liter packaging size to around 750-800 milliliters, but also granted the MINYAKITA brand license to two other unregistered packaging companies.
“In this exposure, we found a new method of fraud. In addition to reducing the dosage, PT AEGA also misused the MINYAKITA brand use permit by granting licenses to two other unregistered companies, in exchange for compensation payments,” said the Minister of Trade of Busan.
In this disclosure, the supervisory team managed to secure evidence in the form of 32,284 empty bottles of various sizes and 30 cooking oil filling tanks with a capacity of 1 ton each. The investigation also revealed that the two companies receiving the MINYAKITA license from PT AEGA did not have a Certificate of Product Use of the Indonesian National Standard Mark (SPPT-SNI) and a Distribution Permit from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM), so that the quality and dosage of the product were not guaranteed, and the highest retail price (HET) was difficult to achieve.
In addition, the results of the supervision also found that PT AEGA used non-domestic market obligation (non-DMO) cooking oil or commercial cooking oil, which had a higher price. To get around it so that it could still be sold close to the MINYAKITA HET, the company reduced the volume of packaging.
As a firm step, the Ministry of Trade will revoke the MINYAKITA brand license for PT AEGA and issue a letter of withdrawal of goods so that products that do not comply with the dosage can be withdrawn from circulation.
“Regarding criminal acts, we fully hand over to the Indonesian Police for further processing,” said Trade Minister Busan.
The Ministry of Trade and Police supervisory officers found MINYAKITA products from PT AEGA that did not comply with the dosage circulating in traditional markets in Jabodetabek. When supervision was carried out at the PT AEGA factory in Depok, the company had moved to Karawang. This was revealed along with a price check by the Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman at Lenteng Agung Market, Jakarta, Saturday (8/3), which found the sale of MINYAKITA with inappropriate dosage.
This exposure is part of the routine supervision of the Ministry of Trade together with the Police and other stakeholders in taking action against rogue business actors. Previously, on January 24, 2025, the Ministry of Trade sealed PT Navyta Nabati Indonesia (NNI) in Mauk, Tangerang, Banten, for selling MINYAKITA in a volume of less than 1 liter.
“At that time, the volume was only 750 milliliters. We have closed the company and it is now under legal process by the National Police,” said Trade Minister Busan.
The Ministry of Trade will continue to work together with producers and packaging companies to ensure that similar violations do not recur. Supervision of MINYAKITA distribution has also been tightened, especially ahead of National Religious Holidays (HBKN) such as Eid.
“Together with the National Police Food Task Force and related ministries, we will continue to monitor the distribution of MINYAKITA so that there are no more fraudulent practices like those carried out by PT AEGA,” he said.
Trade Minister Busan also emphasized that MINYAKITA is not subsidized oil, but rather a product of the domestic market obligation (DMO) for palm oil producers who want to export.
“MINYAKITA is not subsidized oil because it is not funded by the APBN. The supply comes from the DMO of palm oil producers which is then processed and distributed as MINYAKITA,” he explained.
The Director General of Consumer Protection and Trade Order of the Ministry of Trade, Moga, added that from November 2024 to March 2025, the Ministry of Trade together with the National Police Food Task Force have supervised the distribution of MINYAKITA to 316 business actors in 23 provinces. A total of 66 business actors at the distributor and retailer levels have been subject to administrative sanctions due to violations found.
“We have instructed business actors to comply with the regulations. In addition, the public can also report fraud in the distribution of MINYAKITA via WhatsApp at +62-853-1111-1010,” said Moga.
In the exposure, the Head of the Food Task Force, Helfi Assegaf, emphasized that his party would continue to carry out regular supervision, both at the center and in the regions.
“We will continue to monitor the distribution of cooking oil and MINYAKITA consistently so that there are no more violations like this,” he concluded.
With this firm step, the government hopes that the distributioni MINYAKITA can operate according to the rules and the public can get quality products at reasonable prices.
