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Indonesia to ban exports of cooking oil, ingredients
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A shelf stands almost empty of packaged cooking oil on Jan. 27, 2022 at a supermarket in Bekasi, West Java. (JP/Niken Prathivi)
T
he government has announced a ban on the export of cooking oil and cooking oil ingredients starting April 28 to ensure adequate supplies of the staple product at home.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said in a video statement on Friday that the ban would last for an “unspecified time” but be continuously evaluated.
“This policy is to ensure abundant and affordable domestic cooking oil supplies,” he explained.
The ban is the latest development in a four-month-long domestic crises over the staple product amid soaring crude palm oil (CPO) prices and a global shortage of cooking oil.
The announcement comes days after vegetable oil producers threatened to withdraw from the government’s subsidized bulk cooking oil program due to what they consider burdensome cooking oil and CPO regulations.
Producers issued the threat after the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced that it had detained a senior government official and three corporate executives as suspects in a graft case involving CPO export permits.
The protest was directed at the Industry Ministry, which developed and administers the subsidy program for bulk cooking oil.
