The special task force set up by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry is expected to complete its nationwide audit on cooking oil packers, wholesalers and retailers in two weeks, its minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

He said the audit would also cover 21 major factories and 221 licensed cooking oil packers.

"The audit is carried out to identify the reasons for, and the mastermind behind, the shortage of cooking oil in the market," he told reporters in Alor Setar today.

The task force, which also comprises the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, was set up recently following the severe shortage of the essential item in the market.

Ismail Sabri said he had ordered all ministry directors in states to carry out the audit immediately.

He said smuggling and the actions of wholesalers and retailers who sold the commodity to the industry were among the reasons known so far for the shortage.

"The ministry will recommend that the MPOB suspend or withdraw the licences of those involved," he said, adding however that the ministry had no plan to increase the penalty to offenders which currently stood at up to RM250,000.

On the high price of onions, he said, it was due to the demand and supply factor.

"We can choose to buy onions from Thailand and China but consumers prefer onions from India, which is facing problems to meet its domestic demand due to the natural disaster which damaged the crop there," he said.

- Bernama