The boycott by the Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Associations of Malaysia has been called off, following discussions between the group and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today.

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the contentious licence to sell sugar, a controlled item, will be merged with other licences issued by the ministry.

"To make things easier, any licence under the ministry will be combined under one licence.

ismail sabri yaakob "The federation had agreed to this and decided to end their boycott," said Ismail ( right ) during a press conference at the Parliament lobby after the meeting.

Previously, the federation was up in arms over the ministry’s requirement for sundry shops to apply for separate licences for various controlled items such as cooking oil, flour and sugar, which they said was too much of a hassle.  

The government’s argument that was that such a move would better regulate the industry to prevent hoarding and illicit trade of controlled items.

As the July 1 deadline drew closer, the federation and the government were still at a stalemate and the former threatened to pull controlled items off the shelves today as part of the boycott, which would have had a major impact on small towns and rural areas.

July 1 implementation as planned

Ismail said that the move will be implemented on July 1 as planned. Currently there are six items which fall under the ministry, which are sugar, flour, cooking oil, gas, petrol and diesel.

There is a RM10 payment each for the licensing of gas, and petrol and diesel, whereas the  licensing for the other items is free.

Ismail also revealed that the government had agreed with the federation to increase the stock for cooking oil, sugar and flour.

“Shops far from borders are allowed to keep 500kg of the goods, whereas goods for shops located near the borders are capped at 200kg per month,” he said.

NONE Federation president Lean Hing Chuan ( right ) also suggested that other similar licences such as those required for rice, alcohol, signboards and fire extinguishers be merged into the new licence.

“MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai and I will bring this up to the cabinet on Friday,” Ismail said.

Also present was MCA president Chua Soi Lek, who expressed his gratitude to the ministry and the federation for their co-operation to reach an amicable agreement.

Lean also thanked the media and ministry for listening to their problems and providing a solution.

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