Foreigners in Malaysia prohibited from buying subsidised cooking oil from March 1

Foreigners in Malaysia will no longer be able to purchase subsidised packaged cooking oil from March 1, Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Armizan Mohd Ali said.

Responding to a question from lawmaker Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman in Parliament on Thursday (Jan 29), Armizan said that prohibiting non-citizens from purchasing subsidised packaged cooking oil is necessary to "ensure that the subsidy benefits only citizens and does not allow foreign nationals to take advantage of it".

"We are currently in discussions with the Attorney General's Chambers, and enforcement will commence on March 1, 2026," the minister added.

He said that the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme (eCOSS), which digitally records data across the entire distribution chain, will enable the government to effectively enforce the ban.

Armizan also said that his ministry is in discussions with the Ministry of Finance to use MyKasih platform as a potential method for citizens to purchase subsidised packaged cooking oil, citing the successful use of MyKad with other initiatives such as Ron 95 fuel for vehicles. 

MyKasih is a welfare system established to support low-income households.

With the integration of MyKad, Malaysians would be able to buy the subsidised oil by scanning their identity cards without the need for the eCOSS application.

Armizan also said that the eCOSS system has recorded the sale of over 20 million packages of subsidised cooking oil since it was implemented in May 2025.

He added the system will be enhanced either through the mobile application or other available channels.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com