The Indonesian Ombudsman asked the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) to immediately revoke the Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) policy.

Member of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia Yeka Hendra Fatika assessed that the DMO CPO policy was not a cure in terms of maintaining stock availability and stability of cooking oil prices in Indonesia.

“Revocation of the DMO, that’s clear. Now the Ombudsman is asking for it. So they have to implement it. So the Ministry of Trade must immediately revoke the DMO,” he said after handing over the LAPH for the Provision and Stability of Cooking Oil Prices in Jakarta, Tuesday (13/9/2022).

Furthermore, Yeka explained, to prevent the scarcity of cooking oil from happening again when the palm oil DMO is revoked, it can be done by maintaining the stability of cooking oil prices. He also suggested that the government implement the distribution of cooking oil through BUMN.

“This product is not elastic. So if the price of cooking oil goes down, it won’t make you wash your hands with cooking oil all of a sudden, right? So it’s not elastic, there’s still that much need,” Yeka said. Therefore, Yeka asked the Ministry of Trade to carry out the revocation of the

CPO DMO which is also included in the corrective action given by the Ombudsman to the Ministry of Trade with a maximum deadline of 60 days.

“If possible next week. The sooner the better,” added Yeka. Yeka continued, if it exceeds the deadline given by the Ombudsman, a recommendation will be issued that must be implemented by the Ministry of Trade. “(If the recommendations are not implemented) we basically report to the President, we dismantle all the maladministration, we have many ways to pressure the government to always make public services better,” he concluded.