“We will take firm action against such practices. This is a betrayal of farmers, consumers, and the spirit of food self-sufficiency,” he said in an official statement released by the ministry on Tuesday.
Currently, the National Police’s food task force is investigating several large companies over fraudulent rice trade, with 212 brands implicated in the case.
Minister Sulaiman confirmed that he has asked the chief of National Police (Polri), General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, and the Attorney General’s Office to report the fraudulent activities and submit a list of the 212 rice brands suspected of violating trade regulations.
Out of 268 rice brands inspected by his staff in collaboration with the Polri’s food task force, the National Food Agency, and the Attorney General’s Office, 212 were found to be non-compliant with government-established quality, weight, and highest retail price (HET) standards.
The sampling for the investigation was conducted between June 6 and 23, 2025, across several locations in 10 provinces: Jakarta, West Java, South Sulawesi, Lampung, Aceh, South Kalimantan, North Sumatra, Central Java, East Java, and Yogyakarta.
As per the Ministry of Agriculture’s estimates, consumer losses from such fraudulent practices, which primarily involve quality and price manipulation at the distribution level, amount to approximately Rp99.35 trillion per year.
As part of the clampdown on such practices, the food task force confirmed on Tuesday that it had again questioned several rice producers suspected of violating quality and measurement standards.
Brigadier General Helfi Assegaf, head of the food task force and director of Special Economic Crimes (Dirtipideksus) at the Polri’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim Polri), confirmed the development at the Bareskrim Polri Building in Jakarta on Monday afternoon.
Earlier, on July 10, the food task force also questioned four rice producers, identified by their initials as WG, FSTJ, BPR, and SUL/JG, as part of the ongoing investigation into quality and measurement standard violations.
Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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