Jakarta – The government is taking strict action against traders who mix Minyakita with commercial oil.
Minister of Trade (Mendag), Budi Santoso, emphasized that this action violates the rules because Minyakita must come from the domestic market obligation (DMO) scheme, not commercial oil.
“The company is naughty. They want to produce more, so to avoid being caught, they use non-DMO oil or commercial oil,” said Minister of Trade Budi Santoso in an expose of the findings of the Minyakita factory in Karawang, West Java.
According to him, the Minyakita brand can only be used for DMO oil, which comes from crude palm oil (CPO) export companies that are required to distribute people’s cooking oil before obtaining an export permit.
Therefore, PT Artha Eka Global Asia (AEGA) was proven to have violated the rules because it used commercial oil.
“They sell commercial oil with the Minyakita brand. That is clearly a violation,” said Minister of Trade Budi Santoso.
Currently, the government is still investigating the type of commercial oil used.
The Director General of Consumer Protection and Trade Order (PKTN) of the Ministry of Trade, Moga Simatupang, said that the scarcity of DMO oil was the reason companies switched to commercial oil.
“The average supply of DMO oil is only 160 thousand-170 thousand tons per month, while the need for cooking oil reaches 257 thousand tons,” said Moga Simatupang.
The Ministry of Trade has sealed the PT Artha Eka Global Asia factory in Karawang for violating Minyakita regulations. The inspection found 140 boxes of Minyakita and 32,284 empty bottles.
Volumetric testing showed that the oil packaged in the bottles was only around 800 ml, not 1,000 ml as stated on the label.
The Minister of Agriculture (Mentan), Amran Sulaiman, together with the Food Task Force of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police found Minyakita that did not match the measurements during an inspection at Pasar Jaya Lenteng Agung, Jakarta.
“Based on this finding, we will take firm action, even to the point of closing down the company that violated it,” said Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman.
In addition, Minyakita was found to be sold above the highest retail price (HET). Although the label listed a price of Rp15,700 per liter, the oil was sold for Rp18,000.
“We found Minyakita being sold above the HET, it should be Rp15,700, but it was sold for Rp18,000,” added Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman.
He emphasized that the government will continue to monitor the distribution of Minyakita to ensure that it meets standards and protects consumers.
