NILAI: There is no compelling evidence yet to suggest that political interference has allowed cartels' continued domination of the poultry industry, says Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.

       The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister said the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) had started a probe into the matter and it was too early to suggest there is such influence.

       "As of now, we have only read about this (the involvement of politicians) in the media.

       "MyCC is already investigating this but I must stress that it is a complex matter and we need to be really thorough before we can make a conclusion," he said.

       He said he could neither rule out nor confirm the claim and that it was best to wait for MyCC's findings.

       However, he did not state if there were any preliminary findings by the commission when asked.

       "There are other ministries and agencies involved in the probe, including the police, so let us wait for the report before we can establish anything," he told reporters after launching the "Jualan Malaysia-Rancak Aidilfitri" and the Maximum Price Scheme for 28 food items in conjunction with Hari Raya at Aeon Mall here.

       Nanta Linggi was asked to respond to a Utusan Malaysia report that cartels were flourishing and continued to dominate the poultry industry due to political interference.

       The report, quoting sources, said a special board to regulate the industry and control chicken and egg prices had yet to be set up due to political intervention.

       It also claimed that there were five cartels which have continued to dominate the industry – now worth some RM10bil a year – over the past few decades.

       On April 8, MyCC said it had set up a special task force to look into the claims of cartels in the poultry industry.

       The chicken industry is one of the largest segments of Malaysian agriculture, involving an extensive supply chain and multiple sub-sectors such as chicken feed manufacturing, supply of day-old chicks, chicken farming, chicken distributorship and more.

       In his speech earlier, Nanta said the "Jualan Malaysia-Rancak Aidilfitri" programme was part of efforts to boost the retail sector which had faced many challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

       "Based on findings by the Statistics Department, the country's commercial and distribution sectors recorded sales totalling RM48.8bil in February alone, a growth of 10.2% compared to (the same period) last year," he said.

       He expressed hope that the retail sector would continue its uptrend and achieve the RM500bil sales target for 2022.