04/10/2022 (Antara News), Jakarta - Head of the National Standardization Agency (BSN), Kukuh S. Achmad, handed the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) document regulating red palm cooking oil production to the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Ministry on Tuesday.

With the formulation of the SNI document numbered SNI 9098:2022, business actors who are members of palm oil cooperatives are expected to manufacture a safe, nutritious, and good quality product, in accordance with the set standards.

“Regarding the quality of the product, for instance, there should be indicators regarding the level of rancidity (of the cooking oil), thus we ensure that we can withstand the rancidity,” the BSN head said at the headquarters of the Cooperatives and SMEs Ministry here on Tuesday.

Furthermore, BSN is also preparing laboratories and competent certification bodies to certify and assess the manufacturing process of the product.

The preparation is based on consensus among the stakeholders, government institutions and agencies, industrial associations, experts, as well as prospective consumers on the certification and assessment indicators.

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On the same occasion, Cooperatives and SMEs Minister Teten Masduki said that he expected the issuance of the SNI document to erase people's doubts about using red palm cooking oil.

"Once the SNI has been issued, no one should doubt whether the red palm cooking oil is suitable for consumption (or not)," he added.

The National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) will also directly get involved in assessing and supervising the hygiene and safety of the product, he informed.

Furthermore, the minister estimated that the price of red palm cooking oil will be cheaper and start from Rp9 thousand following the fluctuation in the price of crude palm oil (CPO).

However, he assured that the cheap price will not burden the farmers as the raw material suppliers of the product.

He also informed that his ministry will conduct groundbreaking for four pilot red palm cooking oil factories in the third or fourth week of October 2022 with production expected to start in January.

All the pilot factories will be established in North Sumatra province.

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