PUTRAJAYA: The price display rule for medicines at private clinics and hospitals, effective May 1, is not intended to regulate prices but to provide the public with access to information on available medicines, said Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.
He said displaying the prices would allow the public to compare costs at healthcare premises and plan their medical expenses accordingly.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“The mechanism for displaying medicine prices aligns with universal consumer rights, which include the right to information and the right to choose.
“I want to emphasise that this rule is solely about displaying prices so that the public has access to information on medicine prices, allowing them to make informed choices. It is not being implemented to control medicine prices,” he told reporters after launching the 2025 Consumer NGO Day, here, Friday.
Armizan said the Medicine Price Transparency Mechanism (MKHU) was tabled at the National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol) meeting on Oct 3, 2023.
This was followed by the tabling of a Cabinet memorandum on Jan 8, which led to Cabinet approval of the mechanism.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“Alhamdulillah, the Cabinet has approved the memorandum, and a rule will be issued under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act (AKHAP) 2011. The rule will require healthcare facilities to display medicine prices on their premises,” he said.
He added that the enforcement of medicine price display would be implemented under a rule made pursuant to the Act.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Meanwhile, the KPDN has inspected 308 premises and opened 99 investigation papers under Ops Campur, an enforcement operation targeting rice importers and packers over the alleged mixing of imported and local rice.
Armizan said the operation led to the collection of 99 rice deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples, with 17 sent to the Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) for analysis.
“We have entrusted Mardi with the testing and the DNA analysis will be conducted in stages. If local rice DNA is detected in the samples, further legal action will be taken against those involved,” he said.
Ops Campur enforcement falls under the Trade Descriptions Act 2011 (Act 730), which allows legal action against any party found to have misrepresented the content, type, or name of a product under Section 5 of the Act.
Individuals convicted under the Act face a fine of up to RM100,000, imprisonment of up to three years, or both, while companies found guilty may be fined up to RM250,000.
On the rationale for using Act 730 in addressing the mixed rice issue, Armizan said KPDN applied the Act as the mixing of imported and local rice constitutes an offence under false trade descriptions.
“If anyone sells rice labelled as imported rice but it contains local rice, it is considered a false trade description,” he added.
