Enforcement officers inspect the prices of surgical face masks at a shop.
KUCHING: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) had conducted a total of 8,906 inspection and monitoring operations over the prices and supply of face masks throughout Sarawak from Jan 29 to Nov 2.
KPDNHEP Sarawak director Datuk Stanley Tan said strict action would be taken against those failing to comply with the order under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
“The inspections successfully found a total of five cases, with a seizure value of RM493 and involved a total compound of RM12,000,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Tan said KPDNHEP had been monitoring the supply of face masks and the compliance with the set maximum prices, through continuous operations on all business premises and online stores.
“The results of these inspections found very satisfactory compliance where almost all traders had been selling face masks either at the maximum price level of RM1 per unit or lower than that.
“The ministry had also monitored the status of the production and distribution of face masks at all 12 local face mask processing plants. Total of 141 million units of face masks had been produced by all these manufacturers and distributed for sale into the local market from April to September 2020,” he said.
For now, the maximum price of a three-ply surgical face mask has been lowered from 95 sen to 65 sen apiece at wholesale level, and from RM1 to 70 sen apiece at retail level.
“Taking into account the need for the people to continue adopting to the new norms, especially the continued use of face masks, KPDNHEP has reviewed the price of face masks by involving local manufacturers and importers,” said Tan.
One-ply surgical mask is now priced at five apiece (wholesale) and seven sen apiece (retail), while a two-ply mask goes for 16 sen (wholesale) and 20 sen (retail).
As for N95 masks, the wholesale price is RM5 apiece, while for retail, it is RM6 apiece. The previous prices were gazetted on Aug 15.
For the offence of selling controlled price goods beyond the set maximum price, an individual could be fined up to RM100,000 by the court or imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years, or both, or issued compounds up to RM50,000; a company could be fined up to RM500,000, or issued compounds up to RM250,000.
For the offence of failing to display price tags on price-controlled items, an individual could be fined up to RM50,000 or issued compounds up to RM25,000; a company could be fined up to RM100,000, or issued compounds up to RM50,000.
Consumers can channel complaints to the ministry via the e-aduan portal, or Ez ADU app, the call centre 1-800-886-800, email to [email protected], or send a WhatsApp message to 019-279 4317.