Govt discusses measures to tackle glut of imported vegetables hurting local farmers

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is collaborating with the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry to address the surplus of imported vegetables affecting local producers.

Imported vegetables currently do not need good agricultural practices certification equivalent to Malaysia's myGAP, though they must meet import requirements like permits and inspections.

The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority is called in to help with the marketing of produce when oversupply causes prices to drop below production costs.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) is in discussions with the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) to find effective measures to address the glut of imported vegetables, which is affecting local producers.

Its minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said the discussions also took into account the implementation of the requirement to submit a Certificate of Analysis (CoA), which became mandatory on June 1, 2026, although some views held that the measure was still insufficient.

“We have brought this matter up for discussion at the food security level, and we are analysing what new measures need to be introduced to protect the position of vegetable growers in Malaysia, as well as those involved in fruit production,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to a supplementary question from Wong Shu Qi (PH-Kluang) on the need for imported vegetables and fruits to obtain good agricultural practices certification equivalent to Malaysia Good Agricultural Practices Certification Scheme (myGAP), as well as measures to protect local farmers from competition with imported produce that is not subject to the same standards.

Mohamad said imported vegetables and fruits entering Malaysia were currently not required to have good agricultural practices certification equivalent to myGAP in their countries of origin, but remained subject to import requirements, including import permits, phytosanitary certificates issued by exporting countries and inspections by the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Department (MAQIS).

He said commodities facing oversupply included chillies, cabbage, round cabbage, mustard greens, tomatoes and cucumbers, prompting complaints from local growers, including those in Cameron Highlands and Johor.

In response to Wong’s original question on the performance of myGAP certification since the introduction of e-myGAP in 2020, Mohamad said the system was introduced to shorten the certification period from two years to 90 working days without compromising compliance with Malaysian Standards (MS).

However, he said the timeframe depended on the farm’s level of readiness and the applicant’s compliance with all stipulated certification requirements.

Based on records, Mohamad said the number of applications increased from 2,507 in 2021 to 3,652 in 2025, while 3,282 applications were recorded for 2026 as of the reporting cut-off.

Of these, the number of applications successfully certified in less than 90 working days stood at 324 in 2021, 163 in 2022, 183 in 2023, 373 in 2024, 249 in 2025 and 206 in 2026.

However, he said most applications still took more than 90 working days to process, involving 2,097 applications in 2021, 1,895 in 2022, 3,277 in 2023, 2,967 in 2024 and 3,106 in 2025. This was partly due to the need to carry out corrective actions to address identified non-compliance.

Meanwhile, responding to a supplementary question from Nurul Amin Hamid (PN-Padang Terap) on market preference for myGAP-certified produce and guidance for smallholders, Mohamad said the Department of Agriculture would assist farm operators in obtaining certification once applications had been submitted.

He said the ministry had also asked the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) to intervene in marketing agricultural produce when oversupply caused selling prices to fall below production costs.

“This happens when, for example, the selling prices of chillies, okra or other crops fall too low, below production costs. We then ask Fama to intervene so that farmers and small-scale vegetable growers do not incur losses when there is an oversupply in the market,” he said. — Bernama

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农业和粮食安全部正与投资、贸易和工业部合作，解决进口蔬菜过剩对本地生产商造成的影响。

目前进口蔬菜不需要像马来西亚的 myGAP 那样的良好农业规范认证，但必须满足进口要求，例如许可证和检验。

当供应过剩导致价格跌破生产成本时，联邦农业营销局就会介入，协助农产品销售。

吉隆坡，10 月 20 日讯——农业及粮食安全部 (MAFS) 正在与投资、贸易及工业部 (MITI) 进行磋商，以寻找有效措施解决进口蔬菜过剩问题，该问题正在影响本地生产商。

其部长拿督斯里莫哈末沙布表示，讨论还考虑到了提交分析证书（CoA）的要求的实施，该要求于2026年6月1日成为强制性要求，尽管一些人认为该措施仍然不够。

“我们已将此事提上粮食安全层面进行讨论，并正在分析需要采取哪些新措施来保护马来西亚蔬菜种植者以及水果生产者的权益，”他今天在国会下议院的问答环节中说道。

他是在回应黄淑琪（希望联盟-居銮）的补充提问，该提问涉及进口蔬菜和水果是否需要获得与马来西亚良好农业规范认证计划（myGAP）同等的良好农业规范认证，以及保护本地农民免受不符合相同标准的进口农产品竞争的措施。

穆罕默德表示，目前进口到马来西亚的蔬菜和水果不需要在其原产国获得与 myGAP 同等的良好农业规范认证，但仍需遵守进口要求，包括进口许可证、出口国签发的植物检疫证书以及马来西亚检疫检验服务局 (MAQIS) 的检查。

他表示，面临供应过剩的商品包括辣椒、卷心菜、圆白菜、芥菜、西红柿和黄瓜，这引起了当地种植户的抱怨，其中包括金马伦高原和柔佛州的种植户。

针对 Wong 最初提出的关于自 2020 年推出 e-myGAP 以来 myGAP 认证表现的问题，Mohamad 表示，引入该系统是为了在不影响对马来西亚标准 (MS) 的遵守的情况下，将认证期限从两年缩短到 90 个工作日。

但他表示，具体时间取决于农场的准备程度以及申请人是否遵守所有规定的认证要求。

穆罕默德表示，根据记录，申请数量从 2021 年的 2507 件增加到 2025 年的 3652 件，而截至报告截止日期，2026 年的申请数量为 3282 件。

其中，2021 年在 90 个工作日内成功获得认证的申请数量为 324 件，2022 年为 163 件，2023 年为 183 件，2024 年为 373 件，2025 年为 249 件，2026 年为 206 件。

但他表示，大多数申请的处理时间仍然超过 90 个工作日，2021 年有 2097 份申请，2022 年有 1895 份，2023 年有 3277 份，2024 年有 2967 份，2025 年有 3106 份。这部分是由于需要采取纠正措施来解决已发现的不合规问题。

与此同时，针对努鲁·阿明·哈米德（PN-巴东特拉普）提出的关于市场对myGAP认证农产品的偏好以及对小农户的指导的补充问题，穆罕默德表示，农业部将在申请提交后协助农场经营者获得认证。

他说，当农产品供应过剩导致售价低于生产成本时，该部还要求联邦农业营销局（FAMA）介入农产品营销。

他说：“例如，当辣椒、秋葵或其他农作物的售价过低，低于生产成本时，就会出现这种情况。这时，我们会请求马来西亚农业市场协会（Fama）介入，以避免市场供过于求时农民和小规模蔬菜种植户遭受损失。”——马来西亚国家通讯社（Bernama）

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