KUALA LUMPUR: The government is expected to finalise the Livelihood Rubber Price Mechanism (LRPM) for smallholders by the end of this year.
Aimed at safeguarding the livelihood of smallholders, the mechanism will enable natural rubber prices to be within a fixed price range to reduce uncertainty over global rubber prices.
Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the introduction of LPRM was among the key agendas in the discussion between the government and rubber-producing countries under the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) affected by the current low rubber prices compared to the rise in the production costs as well as cost of living.
"However, the main challenge in the implementation of the LRPM is to get the consensus from all 13 member countries of the ANRPC whose membership composition included countries that use rubber such as China and Singapore.
"Therefore, the success of LPRM is subject to the agreement and the consensus (of members in the ANRPC) especially countries which are rubber producers," he said in a written parliamentary reply published on the Parliament's website last night.
Johari was responding to a question from Nurul Amin Hamid (PN - Padang Terap) who asked the minister on the updates and status of the LPRM.
The government, Johari said, was aware of the issues enveloping and affecting the livelihood and welfare of rubber smallholders in the country.
"Similar to other export-oriented commodities, the price of rubber is influenced by supply and demand factors of global rubber.
"Furthermore, intervention by the government is not easy and only at a minimum level since the country's rubber production contributed to only 3.3 per cent of the total global production," he said.