A trade cartel dominating the marketing of some essential food items has made mockery of government's desire to protect the interests of consumers.
The issue in question relates to the latest hike in retail prices of the widely consumed soyabean oil.
The refiners concerned, reportedly, had expressed their intention to the government to hike the prices of edible oils and sugar before last Eid-ul-Azha in view of the increase in international prices of de-gummed soyabean oil and raw sugar. But the ministry of commerce (MoC) advised them to submit price-hike proposals to the Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) after the Eid.
Accordingly, they submitted their proposals to the Tariff Commission on September 29 last seeking a hike of Tk 8.0 for one litre of soyabean oil and also an identical raise for a kg of sugar at the retail level.
But the refiners have already hiked the price of soyabean oil by Tk. 6.0 a litre unilaterally and they did not bother to wait for the government decision on the issue. The retail price of a litre of soyabean oil, after the hike, is now between Tk 100 and Tk 102.
The Tariff Commission, meanwhile, has prepared a report on the proposals submitted by the oil refiners. It has suggested the retail price of a litre of soyabean oil at Tk. 97. While suggesting the price, the commission, according to a newspaper report, in addition to reviewing the latest import cost of crude soyabean, has revised upward the expenditure involved in refining of de-gummed soyabean oil by around 87 per cent. The last refining cost estimate was done back in 2011.
The import cost of a tonne of crude soyabean, shown by the refiners in their proposals, is Tk.6000 higher than that of the BTC.
The BTC report was submitted to the MoC Tuesday last. The report of the BTC is now under review and decisions in this connection would be made known to the refiners 'within a few days', the Financial Express reported last Friday quoting a top MoC official.
But the refiners have already made their own decisions and implemented the same.
The difference between the refiners' hike in price and the price suggested by the BTC is not that big, only Tk.3.0 a kg. But the issue here is: why did not the refiners wait for the government's suggested price? If they were in such a hurry, then why did they go to the MoC with the price-hike proposals?
Usually, the traders concerned do never demonstrate such urgency in bringing down the domestic prices of their products keeping in view the decline in their international prices. The traders concerned continue to fleece the consumers and amass wealth as much as possible.
For instance, international prices of most items, including daily essentials, had hit rock bottom for the past few years. The benefits of the price fall, in most cases, were not passed on to the consumers.
The holy month of Ramadan is an occasion for the Muslims to demonstrate an utmost restraint in all worldly matters. But this is the period when some unscrupulous traders, guided by the profit-motive, hike prices of a few essentials, artificially. Edible oils and sugar are among those. The MoC does know how difficult the job is to handle the trade cartel that dominates the market of essential goods during the holy month. The 'demand order' (DO) has been done away with, to reduce price manipulation. But the greed for making undue profit using any means is still persisting.
In a free market economy, it is not necessary for the traders to go to the government seeking permission to hike the price of any item. But that is true when the traders concerned are fair in their business practices. Any government worth its name cannot remain just an onlooker when dishonest traders try to exploit the poor consumers under different pretexts.
The government does also make sacrifices, in terms of revenue earning, so that the consumers get essentials at affordable prices. It makes the import of essentials either duty-free or imposes the minimum possible duties and taxes.
The import of crude soyabean oil is no exception. The item is exempted from any import duty and the importers are required to pay value added tax (VAT) at the rate of 15 per cent at the import stage. Had there been even 10 to 15 per cent duty on edible oils, the government would have fetched a substantial amount of revenue from an estimated import of 1.7 million tonnes.
Nobody asks the trade cartel to make any sacrifice while doing business. But they should, at least, behave fairly when it concerns the interests of the consumers.
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