The resolution came after the government detected practices in stockpiling the products and refrained from selling them in the market, a cabinet said on Wednesday.
According to Egypt’s customer coverage law, rice is a strategic product and the government is entitled to its industry in the market for an express period of time.
The ministerial decree obliges rice traders, in addition to producers, suppliers, marketers and traders, to inform the directorates attached to the Ministry of Supply and Domestic Trade of the types and quantities of rice that must be delivered to them.
The wardrobe also set a ceiling for the sale of rice at a maximum of 18 EGP in the local market.
Offenders, explained through the decree as those who obtain the rice and the chorus of promoting it, will be punished with imprisonment of at least one year and a fine of between EGP 100,000 and EGP 1 million.
In case of recidivism, the penalty will be two to five years and double the fine provided for the first offense, the company warned.
The decree remains in force for 3 months on Wednesday.
Rice production has been plentiful in Egypt, with the government buying only a portion to sell at lower costs for ration card holders, cupboard spokesman Nader Saad told reporters on Wednesday.
The government, according to Saad, stepped in to save its rice monopoly after some consumers struggled to buy rice on the market due to attempts by several investors to exploit existing global shortages of commodities, despite this year’s abundant production, by stockpiling giant quantities of rice. This is a serious attack on fair trade.
Egypt is on track for self-sufficiency in rice production soon, according to recent comments by Minister of Supply and Domestic Trade Ali Moselhi.
The Grain Production Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries said 4. 5 million tonnes of rice was harvested in 2021-22, up from six million tonnes last year.
This year’s harvest is expected to reach six million tonnes after the expansion of the planned rice crop, according to the cereal chamber.