Muhammad Farhan, Jakarta – Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman warned on Monday that he will publicly expose 212 rice brands accused of cheating consumers, unless the companies correct their practices within the next three days.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Amran said the alleged violations include mislabeling lower-quality rice as premium, selling above the government's price ceiling, and operating without proper licenses.
"We are giving them three days. If they don't change, I will announce the names of all 212 brands. Just wait," Amran said in Jakarta.
"I'm giving them the chance to change first. But if they continue selling above the maximum price, I will expose them," he added.
Not a supply problem – a dishonesty problem
Amran stressed that the recent surge in consumer rice prices is not due to supply shortages, but rather because of dishonest practices among rice producers and distributors.
"For example, they label regular rice as premium rice when it's not," he explained.
Some rice companies, he said, have raised prices by up to Rp 4,000 ($0.24) per kilogram above the official price cap set by the government.
"This has been happening for a long time. But now is the time to fix it because we have sufficient rice stocks. If we had limited stocks, we wouldn't be able to address this," Amran said.