MALAYSIA: Malaysia has not imposed ban on rubber import

Malaysia has not imposed a ban on the import of natural rubber, said Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Noriah Kasnon.

The ban is not feasible given the lack of raw material, especially latex, for the rubber glove industry, she said in reply to Senator Ramli Shariff at the Dewan Negara (Upper House of Parliament) sitting in Kuala Lumpur on 25 Apr 2016.

Ramli had wanted to know the measures taken by the government to curb the entry of rubber from other countries.

Commenting further, Noriah said the government, through the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB), had conducted periodical investigation to ensure that the quality of imported rubber was equivalent to what was declared in the Import Form.

Meanwhile, Noriah said the government was concerned about the wellbeing of rubber smallholders and tappers affected by the instability of the commodity price.

As such, she said immediate measures had been implemented to alleviate their burden, including by implementing the Rubber Production Incentive (IPG) from January last year.

"In January this year, the IPG Price Level Activation (PHP) for SMR20 has been raised from MYR 5.10 to MYR 5.50 per kilogram.

"...and for the price of cuplumps (rubber scrap) from MYR 2 to MYR 2.20 per kilogram, using an allocation of MYR 200 million, and as at 6 April, a total of 93,365 applications have been approved for IPG distribution, involving an allocation of MYR 14.01 million," she said.

She said the government has also implemented the price fixing mechanism at farm-gate by providing an allocation of MYR 6.4 million for cooperatives to carry out the rubber transaction.

Based on feedback received, she said 10 cooperatives had been involved in the rubber transaction so far and they were offering an average price of 10 to 20 sen higher than the price offered by licensed rubber buyers.

Noriah said the government had also forged cooperation and held discussions to stabilize the price of rubber under the framework of the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) and the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC).

Source: “The Sun Daily”, Petaling Jaya, Selangor; 25 Apr 2016

(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)