Home ministry finds it hard to punish unscrupulous sugar traders
Monday, 28 September 2009
Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
The government's intended actions against unscrupulous sugar traders is less likely to be materialized since there is no law in the country to try those involved in the price manipulation of the commodity.
The home ministry has asked the law enforcing agencies to take necessary actions against the manipulators of sugar price after receiving a request from the commerce ministry in this regard, a home ministry official told the FE.
He, however, said the government is helpless as there is no law that defines the hiking of price of any commodity as a punishable offence.
"What happened in the holy month of Ramadan was that the sugar price went up sharply but we cannot define it as a crime," he explained.
The price of sugar went up as high as Tk 75 per kg in some places and in most of the cases the price was Tk 60 per kg in retail although the refiners agreed to sell the product at Tk 39 at the mill gate.
The price of a kg sugar was Tk 56 in the market, according to the data of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) president Annisul Huq told the FE that so far he knows 'there is no law that deals with commodity price fluctuations'.
"In the market economy, it is a routine phenomena that the prices would either go up or move down, depending on the demand and supply situation," he said.
The government is authorised to conduct any investigation into any irregularities in the market but they should do it within the bounds of laws, he added.
"The FBCCI's position is that if any trader is engaged in illegal activities the government should action against them but they should not harass anybody in the name of actions against market manipulation," Mr Annis said.
The officials of the law enforcing agencies should be cautious when investigating the issues as anything beyond the law might become embarrassing for the government, he cautioned.
"The government should be careful that any action does not sour its relations with the business community," he said.
There must have been be a serious anomaly in the supply chain as the refiners supplied 0.121 million tonnes of sugar during Ramadan, he said.
"On an average 3,400 tonnes of sugar were supplied everyday and the supply should have been enough to meet the requirement and
there is no justification for the prices to increase," he added.
The government should find out the reasons behind the price hike and take necessary actions, Mr Annis said.
A commerce ministry official said a simple calculation is that 3,400 tonnes or 3.4 million kgs per day were made available and if the monthly requirement of a family is five kg per month it can satisfy the needs of 0.68 million families.
"Over a period of one month the supply can satisfy the needs of around 20 million families," he explained.
The sugar refiners on Sunday held a meeting with commerce minister M Faruk Khan and discussed with him the sugar issue, said Saiful Islam, owner of S Alam Sugar Mills.
"The problem is that the price of sugar is yet to come down to a tolerable level," he said.
The refiners also held another meeting with the FBCCI and tried to chalk out a plan to reduce the price, he added.
The government earlier engaged intelligence agencies to find out the unscrupulous businessmen responsible for increasing the price of sugar.
The commerce minister told the FE recently that he feared the essential item might have been smuggled out to neighbouring countries where it is being sold at higher prices.
It is possible that sugar is being smuggled out, he added.
The minister pointed out that volatility in the international market, profiteering tendency of businessmen and panic buying are three main reasons behind any price hike.
The government has taken a number of measures to ensure a fair price of the product.
The government's intended actions against unscrupulous sugar traders is less likely to be materialized since there is no law in the country to try those involved in the price manipulation of the commodity.
The home ministry has asked the law enforcing agencies to take necessary actions against the manipulators of sugar price after receiving a request from the commerce ministry in this regard, a home ministry official told the FE.
He, however, said the government is helpless as there is no law that defines the hiking of price of any commodity as a punishable offence.
"What happened in the holy month of Ramadan was that the sugar price went up sharply but we cannot define it as a crime," he explained.
The price of sugar went up as high as Tk 75 per kg in some places and in most of the cases the price was Tk 60 per kg in retail although the refiners agreed to sell the product at Tk 39 at the mill gate.
The price of a kg sugar was Tk 56 in the market, according to the data of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) president Annisul Huq told the FE that so far he knows 'there is no law that deals with commodity price fluctuations'.
"In the market economy, it is a routine phenomena that the prices would either go up or move down, depending on the demand and supply situation," he said.
The government is authorised to conduct any investigation into any irregularities in the market but they should do it within the bounds of laws, he added.
"The FBCCI's position is that if any trader is engaged in illegal activities the government should action against them but they should not harass anybody in the name of actions against market manipulation," Mr Annis said.
The officials of the law enforcing agencies should be cautious when investigating the issues as anything beyond the law might become embarrassing for the government, he cautioned.
"The government should be careful that any action does not sour its relations with the business community," he said.
There must have been be a serious anomaly in the supply chain as the refiners supplied 0.121 million tonnes of sugar during Ramadan, he said.
"On an average 3,400 tonnes of sugar were supplied everyday and the supply should have been enough to meet the requirement and
there is no justification for the prices to increase," he added.
The government should find out the reasons behind the price hike and take necessary actions, Mr Annis said.
A commerce ministry official said a simple calculation is that 3,400 tonnes or 3.4 million kgs per day were made available and if the monthly requirement of a family is five kg per month it can satisfy the needs of 0.68 million families.
"Over a period of one month the supply can satisfy the needs of around 20 million families," he explained.
The sugar refiners on Sunday held a meeting with commerce minister M Faruk Khan and discussed with him the sugar issue, said Saiful Islam, owner of S Alam Sugar Mills.
"The problem is that the price of sugar is yet to come down to a tolerable level," he said.
The refiners also held another meeting with the FBCCI and tried to chalk out a plan to reduce the price, he added.
The government earlier engaged intelligence agencies to find out the unscrupulous businessmen responsible for increasing the price of sugar.
The commerce minister told the FE recently that he feared the essential item might have been smuggled out to neighbouring countries where it is being sold at higher prices.
It is possible that sugar is being smuggled out, he added.
The minister pointed out that volatility in the international market, profiteering tendency of businessmen and panic buying are three main reasons behind any price hike.
The government has taken a number of measures to ensure a fair price of the product.