The director-general of the agriculture and food security ministry’s padi and rice regulatory division, Azman Mahmood, said the move was aimed at addressing disruptions in the rice supply market.

He said some traders were found buying up to 7,000kg of local white rice.

“That’s why we are implementing this restriction starting from today,” he told reporters at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute headquarters here.

Azman said the purchase limit will be imposed until the supply of local white rice normalises.

He said the government has sufficient stocks to last six months.

He also denied claims that local players are changing the label of rice packages following the increase in the price of imported white rice.

There had been claims that a few rice wholesalers were attempting to manipulate the rice market by placing local rice, which has government-set price controls, into bags labelled as imported rice.

Azman said his team has not received any formal complaints from the public regarding the matter.

“Despite some claims made on TikTok, no one has filed an official complaint. They should specify which factory and individuals were involved,” he said.

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