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Edible oil recently underwent price manipulation at each of the four stages of the value chain within the country involving refiners, dealers or supply order traders, wholesale traders and retailers, according to the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection.
This caused prices to spiral and ultimately consumers suffered, opined AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of the directorate, yesterday.
Traders of Khatunganj in Chattogram and Moulvibazar in Dhaka are controlling the whole edible oil market of the country by trading through these four stages, he said.
The government is trying to bring an end to this practice, he said.
“Now, if you have around 500 people in your community and if you need around five tonnes of edible oil, you can buy it in bulk directly from the refiners at the mill gate at the price fixed by the government,” he said.
“In this way we are trying to break the chain…and thus manipulation may come to an end,” Shafiquzzaman said.
He was addressing as chief guest a views-exchange meeting organised by the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) on prices of essential commodities and the market situation at World Trade Centre in the port city.
Importers of essential commodities, wholesale traders of Khatunganj and representatives of different kitchen markets were present at the meeting.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi could not make a scheduled appearance as chief guest as he had fallen ill suddenly.
The directorate chief said the government withdrew duties on edible oil on March 16 and fixed the prices to bring stability to the market.
“But who made the market volatile before the government decision?” he asked.
To find the facts, the directorate conducted drives at each of the four stages of the market value chain and unearthed the price manipulation, he said.
When some 10 days to 12 days elapsed following the duty withdrawal, edible oil importers began claiming that not much of the product had entered the country and availed the benefit, he said.
“But from customs sources we came to know that around one lakh tonnes of edible oil arrived through the Chattogram port at 10 per cent less duty,” he said, adding that the correct information was not shared.
He informed that the ministry was going to introduce an app to get the proper, real-time data concerning every stage of imports and stocks.
It will encompass the arrival of vessels, assessment by customs and deliveries from the port to refining at the mills and arrival of the product at the markets, he said.
He said they would sit with officials of the Chattogram port and Custom House Chattogram today.
Traders of different kitchen markets at the meeting were critical of allegedly being harassed by different agencies in the pretext of running mobile court drives.
Regarding the issue, the directorate chief said if traders gave the assurance that they would sell goods at the government-fixed rates, the drives would be stopped.
Mobile court drives are being conducted to unearth irregularities and manipulation at each of the four trading stages, he said.
The drives found a tendency of traders of one stage to blame those in the other parts of the chain for the price manipulations, he said.
CCCI President Mahbubul Alam urged the commerce ministry to sit with traders three to four months ahead of Ramadan or festivals to take up policies such as duty adjustments to keep the market stable.
He said commodity prices in the global market had already been on an upward trend quite some time back and it escalated due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and thus impacted the Ramadan market this year.
He assured that the trade body would conduct strict monitoring at different stages of the market supply chain to keep prices at a reasonable level.
Leading commodity importer BSM Group Chairman Abul Bashar Chowdhury, Mir Group Chairman Abdus Salam and CCCI Vice President Syed M Tanvir and Director Anjan Shekhar Das also spoke at the meeting among others.
(TDS)
